By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 5, 2012 The Regional Fraud Unit of the Halton police have arrested a man believed to be operating as part of a larger crime ring in the Halton/Hamilton area, other GTA cities and across Canada.
Businessmen are contacted by an individual under the guise of wanting to do business with the victim’s company. The victim gets lured to either an area hotel or rented office for further discussions. Once there, the victim is asked to sit in for a poker hand for a game just finishing up usually to celebrate a birthday or luncheon, while one of the players has to step out for a call.
The victim wins his initial hand and is offered half the winnings. The victim then gets invited to continue playing. The next hand usually results in the victim losing a large sum of money for which payment is demanded.
A friendly game is fine – playing poker as part of business with people you don’t know; you’re going to lose.
The second variation of the scam is similar and usually involves a charity event or social setting. The victim is approached and asked if he has any knowledge of poker and winning hands. The victim is then lured into a game he believes to be a friendly, non-wager game. Once he loses, he is advised that he owes large sums of money and is pressured into writing a cheque or attending an area bank to supply the funds.
The same group is believed to have been involved in the same type of scam for years throughout the GTA and Canada. On July 4, Halton officers arrested Peter Andrew KUTI (64 yrs) of Port Moody, BC at a rooming house in the Toronto area.
KUTI has been charged with two counts of Fraud Over $5000 and has been held pending bail. He is scheduled to appear in Milton Court, July 5, 2012.
Investigators believe there may be other victims of the same scam and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Sergeant John Mans of the Regional Fraud Unit at 905-465-8760, Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222-TIPS(8477), through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.com or by texting “Tip201” with your message to 274637(crimes).
