Identity theft is a scary thing, you never know when and where your name and credit card will be used and what consequences it will bring into your life. Many things can lead to identity theft, a wallet is lost or stolen, a personal computer is hacked, or simply thieves took personal mail with credit card statement and other personal information.
A man in Oakbank is charged with 17 offenses related to fraud, forged documents, and identity theft. RCMP initially investigated a number of mail thefts, breaks and enters, and thefts from vehicles between July 4 and Friday as separate incidents, but further investigation revealed they were all linked to a series of identity frauds and forgeries.
Investigating officers found more and more evidence linking those, appeared to be separate, incidents and a number of small crimes and incidents lined up into one line of a big identity theft crime string. Investigators from Oakbank RCMP, along with their colleagues at the Beausejour and East St. Paul detachments, determined that their suspect opened several bank accounts under a false name using forged government ID.
A suspect is identified as Emery Peter Smith, 42, is described as 5’7″, 141 lbs, with black hair and brown eyes, RCMP also published several pictures of the suspect, where he walks into the bank, to open an account under fake identification documents.