Halton Regional Police have arrested two men from Mississauga after they were allegedly involved in a large-scale gift card scam that stretched from the Niagara Region to Barrie.
One of the suspects first caught the eye of law enforcement following an incident at a Walmart Supercentre in Burlington back in December 2025.
“The investigation was initiated after an unidentified male was observed removing gift cards from his pockets and placing them onto a retail display rack,” a police release explained.
“The individual was subsequently seen selecting additional gift cards, concealing them, and exiting the store without attending any point of sale or attempting to activate or purchase the cards.”
Investigators claim that the suspect would then keep an eye on the compromised gift cards he had put back on the racks, waiting for unsuspecting customers to activate them.
Once money was loaded onto those cards, investigators say the suspect would cash in on them online and buy items before the original customer could use their card.
In March 2026, the Financial Crimes Unit kicked off Project Reload – a probe triggered by suspicions about this man’s involvement in a broader scheme across various parts of Ontario, including Halton, Hamilton, Brantford, Niagara, Toronto, Peel, Durham, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, York and Barrie.
The suspect was ultimately identified and authorities found his vehicle.
“Ongoing surveillance revealed that the suspect was actively and systematically placing gift cards onto retail display racks at various locations,” police allege.
“During the course of the investigation, investigators seized a quantity of these gift cards and, for evidentiary purposes, loaded them with varying monetary values. In April 2026, investigators confirmed that funds from several of the monitored cards had been redeemed. Subsequent investigation determined that the suspect used the cards to purchase various goods.”
On May 12, officers executed three search warrants in Mississauga and arrested two suspects while seizing multiple items.
• 2012 BMW X3 SUV
• 5,700 prepaid gift cards with discernible values – Total at-risk loss over $1 million
• 137 bottles of alcohol seized with an approximate total value of over $11,000
• Four mobile phones
• Mac Book
• Two laptops
• $700 in counterfeit currency
• 487 Belmont cigarette packs with 20 cigarettes per box – Total value over $8,000
• High-end watches, jewelry and sunglasses
• Various perfumes
• Various instruments used for tampering and forgery
• Black pellet pistol
• Break-barreled pellet rifle
• C8 style pellet rifle
• Black Sig Sauer P226 pellet gun
• Card-making instruments and other tools to tamper with gift cards
• Card printer Giorgi Khandolishvili, 48, and Jevgenij Piskunov, 40 are facing multiple charges including fraud over $5,000 along with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 as well as forgery and possession of instruments for forgery. Keep it Factual Add City News Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
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• 5,700 prepaid gift cards with discernible values – Total at-risk loss over $1 million
• 137 bottles of alcohol seized with an approximate total value of over $11,000
• Four mobile phones
• Mac Book
• Two laptops
• $700 in counterfeit currency
• 487 Belmont cigarette packs with 20 cigarettes per box – Total value over $8,000
• High-end watches, jewelry and sunglasses
• Various perfumes
• Various instruments used for tampering and forgery
• Black pellet pistol
• Break-barreled pellet rifle
• C8 style pellet rifle
• Black Sig Sauer P226 pellet gun
• Card-making instruments and other tools to tamper with gift cards
• Card printer Giorgi Khandolishvili, 48, and Jevgenij Piskunov, 40 are facing multiple charges including fraud over $5,000 along with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 as well as forgery and possession of instruments for forgery. Keep it Factual Add City News Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
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