Man charged with fraud
A man in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, has been charged with fraud after a three-month police investigation.
Police have determined that the 51-year-old man cashed counterfeit bank drafts at a payday loan business. The company offers short-term loans, installment loans and cash advances along with check-cashing services.
Canadian newspaper news brief:
ST. CATHARINES — A 51-year-old St. Catharines man faces fraud charges after a three-month police investigation into complaints about counterfeit bank drafts.
Niagara Regional Police said a man cashed two counterfeit bank drafts at a St. Catharines payday loan business, and transferred the money to an account with a different financial institution.
Investigators from the fraud unit determined the bank drafts were counterfeit and identified the suspect with the assistance of the NRP’s forensic services unit.
Sarkis Kishishian is charged with two counts of fraud under $5,000. He was released on a promise to appear in court on July 10.
See the original copy of this news brief at WellandTribune.ca.
Payday loan crimes
This isn’t the first time a criminal has bilked a business that offers installment loans out of some money. However, most of the time the perpetrators simply walk in the door with a gun and demand money. Here are some earlier accounts I wrote of payday loan store robberies:
Payday loan robberies in Indiana
A Check into Cash store in Crown Point, Indiana, was robbed April 16. There was only one employee in the store at the time.
Armed robber
The employee reports that the robber pointed a handgun at him and demanded he empty the cash drawer. After the cash was put in the robber’s bag, the man ordered the employee to lie facedown on the floor for five minutes.
Popular crime in Indiana
Several payday loan stores in Indiana have already been robbed this year. In Indianapolis, in January, four payday loan stores were robbed within a week. On Jan. 19, two stores were robbed within about 45 minutes of each other.
During the week before those robberies, two other payday loan stores were hit. The same two men were suspected of committing all four robberies as well as another robbery at an auto parts store.
Also this year, criminals have robbed payday loan stores in Iowa, Texas and Illinois.
Invest in security
In 2007, an employee at a payday loan store in Illinois was killed during a robbery. The woman was working alone at the time she was shot. After that incident, many payday loan stores made a point of making sure employees were never left alone in stores. It is disturbing to hear that some store owners are not taking this precaution.
I’ve read many of your articles on payday loan robberies and I too have stressed many times that payday loan stores should really invest in a more sophisticated security system. I mean, you would think they would take the necessary precautions considering these stores generally carry a significant amount of cash on hand. It would be foolish not to, especially with all of these robberies going on.