The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have detained and charged two men from the United Kingdom who are accused of being involved in a driveway paving scam, police announced on Monday.
The arrests came after an investigation into fraudulent activities that covered several areas in Ontario, although specific regions were not mentioned by the police.
Two individuals, a 30-year-old man and a 28-year-old man from the U. K., face multiple charges.
The older man was charged with one count of fraud under $5,000 and three counts of fraud over $5,000. The younger man faces one count of fraud over $5,000.
Both men have been released from custody and are due in court on November 19 in Cobourg.
Driveway paving scams have raised alarms in southwestern Ontario and beyond.
The OPP detachments along with municipal police forces across the province have issued alerts about cases where men posing as contractors offer homeowners quality paving at low costs before taking payment and vanishing. Many victims reported that the scammers had Irish or Scottish accents, according to police reports.
This year, two homeowners in St. Thomas shared their experience being scammed by men with Scottish accents who went door-to-door pretending to be workers for a legitimate paving company nearby.
In 2022, several residents in London reported similar incidents; some had their driveways paved only to end up with heaps of rubble instead, while others were left with incomplete driveways after they had already paid.
LISTEN | Watch out for a door-to-door paving scam
London Morning6:30Watch out for a door-to-door paving scam
A paving scam is happening in St. Thomas, and even worse, the scammers are posing as a reputable business. CBC’s Isha Bhargava spoke to a few victims of the scam and the business owner who is worried about his business getting a bad rap.
Source link
Source link
