A 39-year-old local man is facing several charges after a joint investigation launched by the RCMP, Canada Post and U.S. authorities connected him to a multi-million dollar international lottery scam.
Police believe Richard Chukwu targeted American victims back in the summer of 2010.
CTV News is told an investigation started after Canada Post employees noticed thousands of letters coming through their depot were sent from the same Edmonton address.
A document was enclosed in each envelope, telling recipients they had won $150,000. There was also a cheque that victims deposited to into a British bank account as an initial fee. Then later, that cheque would bounce.
Soon mail carriers started seizing the packages before they left the processing centre.
"We're dealing with a Canadian suspect, American victims, and the money's being sent to the UK," said Sgt. Terry Schmidt of the international coordination needed during the five-month investigation.
"It's international in nature. We don't catch up to them that often, so it is nice to actually be able to lay charges on one of these files."
At this time there is no word on how many victims were duped by the scheme, with police saying few reports were filed. Still authorities believe it's possible thousands of people were deceived, with the average victim losing $4,000.
According to RCMP, people on both sides of the border are still getting reeled in by a familiar ploy.
"The heart and soul of this is really for the suspects to put counterfeit cheques in the hands of victims… If it's too good to be true, it probably is," said Schmidt.
"A simple Google search will often tell you whether it's a scam or not. At least go that far."
Police say all money recovered will be redistributed amongst known victims. The total value is estimated at $7 million.
Chukwu is facing charges mostly related to fraud and money laundering. He next appears in an Edmonton courtroom on Tuesday morning.
With Files from Bill Fortier
