RCMP recovers fake credit cards, IDs in two busts near Maidstone

Two busts near Maidstone in the past week have taken a bevy of fake credit cards and identity documents off the streets.

The RCMP said the first two arrests occurred Feb. 22, when the Maidstone Mounties got a call about fraudulent activity at a business in that town.

Officers found the suspects’ vehicle on Highway 16 just east of Maidstone and pulled it over. A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up a number of falsified documents.

“Everything from forged Social Insurance Numbers, health-care cards, driver’s licences, credit cards, SIM cards, phones and a quantity of cash were located and seized from the vehicle,” Sgt. Jolyne Harrison, the Maidstone detachment commander, said in a media release.

A 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, both from Edmonton, were charged with counterfeiting a mark, possession of property obtained by crime, fraud over $5,000, and possession of identity documents.

They’re to be back in court on March 22 in Lloydminster.

The other arrest happened Friday, after an officer from the Roving Traffic Unit stopped a vehicle near Maidstone.

A search of the vehicle found 16 fraudulent Social Insurance Number cards, eight fraudulent permanent resident cards, nine fraudulent Ontario driver’s licences and three fraudulently obtained credit cards.

A 24-year-old woman from Vancouver was charged with three counts of possession of government marks, one count of illegal possession or trafficking in government documents, and one count of fraud over $5,000.

The woman was remanded into custody until her next appearance at North Battleford Provincial Court on Wednesday.