2 men arrested at Canadian border with fake permanent resident and social insurance cards

The Canada Border Service Agency seizes fraudulent permanent resident and social insurance cards at the Armstrong port of entry on Aug. 1, 2023. (via CBSA press release)

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it arrested two men earlier this month after discovering they were travelling with fake Canadian permanent resident and social insurance cards.

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Border services officers arrested the pair on Aug. 1 at the Armstrong port of entry, located southeast of Saint-Théophile, Que., and northwest of Jackman, Maine.

The CBSA alleges that officers found the pair with multiple fraudulent identification cards in their vehicle as they were crossing the border.

In addition to the fake IDs, the travellers also had currency worth more than $10,000 that had not been reported when leaving Canada, which is a violation to the "Proceeds of Crime (money laundering) and Terrorist Financial Act," according to a press release from the CBSA published on Tuesday.

Maria Bohotineanu, a spokesperson for the CBSA, wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Tuesday declaring currency at the border is important to “help fight money laundering and terrorist financing.”

While there are no restrictions on the amount of money people can bring in and out of Canada, those crossing the border must declare any currency or monetary instruments that are valued at CAN$10,000 or more, as per the CBSA guidelines.

Border service will take away the currency if the entire value is not reported. However, in some cases, it can be returned after paying a penalty ranging from $250 to $5,000.

According to Bohotineanu’s email, “the CBSA will not return the funds if it is suspected that they are the proceeds of crime or funds for financing terrorist activities.” 

"All of these items and the currency were seized with no terms of release," read the release.