Fires at Beaumont showhome, new house part of Edmonton extortion scheme: sources

Two suspected arsons in Beaumont are believed to be linked to a homebuilder extortion scheme in Edmonton, sources say.

The first fire in Beaumont, 30 minutes south of Edmonton, happened on Dec. 14.

Then, on Tuesday, firefighters were called to a nearby address around 6 a.m.

"Of interest with this [Jan. 16 fire] was that on Dec. 14, a showhome for that particular builder, which was only a few doors down, was also lit ablaze and was burnt down," Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

"Ultimately, due to the circumstances of the events, the proximity of the two fires and so forth, RCMP are investigating both of these fires as arsons at this time."

Edmonton Police Service is investigating more than a dozen cases in which homebuilders have seen their properties burned down if they did not pay a large sum of money.

Neither EPS nor RCMP have confirmed a connection between the Beaumont fires and the Edmonton extortion cases.

"Certainly we are looking at that possibility," Savinkoff said, noting Mounties and Edmonton police are sharing information.

EPS UPDATE COMING THURSDAY

EPS is scheduled to provide an investigation update Thursday morning. CTVNewsEdmonton.ca will broadcast it live at 10 a.m.

In total, EPS is investigating 27 files – a combination of extortions, arsons and shootings.

"We just want to share where we're at this point with our community," EPS chief Dale McFee told reporters on Wednesday about the upcoming news conference.

"This is a significant, large investigation. Not just multinational, but it's international as well. And we've got a lot of good people working on it. We're one of the few jurisdictions that has already laid some charges, but there's a lot of work to do on this file."

On Jan. 3, EPS announced weapon-related charges against six people in connection to shootings.

As recently as Jan. 10, a builder's house was targeted in another drive-by shooting, sources told CTV News Edmonton.

McFee and Savinkoff promised they were committed to working with their law enforcement partners across Canada and beyond.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha