We’ve published many stories about seniors being victims of fraud, but this incident in Barrie is particularly disturbing.
On Tuesday July 29th, just before 9:00 p.m., the Barrie Police Service received information about a male, who had been found injured in a parking lot located on Lakeshore Drive.
From the investigation that followed, detectives from the Barrie Police Criminal Investigation Division, learned that the male, who is in his early 70’s, was the victim of an elaborate scheme that was designed to defraud him of his money.
The victim told police that he had received a call from an unknown male just before 8:00 p.m., stating that he was a suspect in a fraud investigation and police were going to come to his home and arrest him. The caller convinced the victim that in order to resolve the situation, he needed to attend a Collier Street financial institution. The victim took a cab to that location where an unknown male identified himself as the bank manager and stated they needed to go to another bank located at Minets Point Road and Yonge Street. The senior, whose mobility is aided by a walker, got into the alleged bank manger’s car and at the bank, a cheque was deposited into the victim’s bank account.
The alleged bank manager, who is now considered a primary suspect in this scheme, drove the victim away from the Minets Point Road and Yonge Street bank and stopped in a Lakeshore Drive parking lot where he removed him from the car, and drove away with his walker. The victim, who was unsteady on his feet without the use of his walker, fell to the ground, sustained some facial injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The Barrie Police Service investigation into this incident remains ongoing and although it is in the early stages, Barrie Police feel that these details need to be shared with our community so that no one else falls victim to the perpetrators of this unspeakable offence.
Police are urging children who have elderly parents to share this sequence of events with them and to remind them not to answer the phone with names or phone numbers that they do not recognize.
Investigators are using a number of resources that are available to them to identify the suspect who is described as male, 30-40 years old, with a brown complexion, black hair, beard, wearing a black shirt and driving and a black Cadillac.
Further details will be shared as this investigation permits.
