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Only one person is suspected in an estimated $50,000-plus fraud involving several victims at a Southwestern Ontario retirement home, a fact police hope will calm public fears.
Numerous people at a retirement home in the Oxford County community of Norwich fell victim to a scam, about which police were notified on Aug. 21, but “the frauds in this particular investigation are not considered to be a threat to the public,” police said.
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“There is only one person that is suspected to be behind these frauds, and they don’t have any charges to bring forward as of yet, because the investigation is still early,” OPP Const. Randi Crawford said. “By letting people know that there’s only one suspect, hopefully that’ll bring some relief to people to not be fearful that (the fraud) is ongoing.”
Although police have identified a suspect, OPP wouldn’t disclose how it was perpetrated or if the suspect was known to the victims.
“The investigation has started (and) the major crime unit is involved, because it is considered a benchmark crime as it’s such a large amount of money,” Crawford said.
She also declined to name the retirement home where the fraud occurred but noted “they’ve been extremely cooperative” and friends and family affected by the scam had been notified. Norwich Township is a municipality south of Woodstock with a population of around 11,000.
In an email to The Free Press, Crawford cautioned people to “keep a close eye on your personal banking” to thwart any possible frauds and review “bank accounts and credit cards on a regular basis to ensure all transactions are accounted for.”
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
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