Seizure of counterfeit holographic stickers leads to charges against Calgary man

Fraud suspect arrested by CPS A Calgary man is facing numerous fraud and identity theft charges after an illegal shipment led police right to him. Mark Villani reports.

A Calgary man is facing fraud and identity theft charges in connection to an investigation involving the seizure of a shipment of counterfeit holographic stickers by border services agents last year.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers intercepted a shipment from China in September of 2018 that contained over 3000 counterfeit holographic stickers.

It’s believed the stickers were to be used on Canadian and American resident cards and the shipment was turned over to Calgary police.

“The envelope contained 3066, counterfeit holographic stickers intended for use on fraudulent Canadian permanent resident cards. CBSA officers were immediately suspicious and referred the stickers for secondary screening. CBSA officers meticulously examined the printing features and techniques of the holographic stickers and compared them to genuine permanent resident cards and determined that they were fraudulent,” said Harpreet Sandhar, chief of operations, Canada Border Services Agency. “These counterfeit holographic stickers would have produced 3066 Canadian permanent resident cards. This may have caused severe damage to the integrity of our immigration system.”

Police arrested a man in connection to the case on December 29, 2018 and say he was initially suspected of using the bogus stickers to produce fake identity documents.

“What we believe the suspect was doing was using the fraudulent identity to then obtain credit and then they would use the credit to monetize the fraud so we suspect that, we’re aware of over 30 victims of identity fraud and have been in contact with those individuals to let them know but it’s significant dollar value once they start applying for credit in those names,” said Detective Matt Frederiksen from the Calgary Police Service Fraud Team. “There’s a variety of sophistication in the identity documents. Some of them were very good and it was demonstrated that the suspect had been practicing, as can be shown by the shredded documents where they weren’t successful in producing something that would pass.”

Investigators found evidence of fraudulent identity document production while executing a search warrant on a storage locker in the 5000 block of 77 Avenue S.E.

Police say the investigation revealed that the suspect allegedly created and used false identities to avoid warrants for his arrest.

Garrit Glen English-Schleiermacher, 28, is charged with:

He was also wanted on 21 outstanding warrants for unrelated offences.

Police are hoping anyone with information on additional identity theft or fraud offences involving the accused will come forward and have released an image of English-Schleiermacher.

Investigators are reminding people not to carry their birth certificate or Social Insurance card with them and to keep them in a secure location.

Anyone who suspects that their identity has been compromised is encouraged to contact their financial institution immediately and then report the incident to police.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the police non-emergency number at 403-266-1234, or Crime Stoppers anonymously using either of the following methods:

TEXT: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org