EDMONTON -- An Alberta man who disappeared last year before his trial could begin was found in Belize last month.
Francis Emanual Mella, a 59-year-old resident of Spruce Grove, is accused of stealing $2.6 million from an Acheson, Alta., business.
It is alleged that Mella made multiple fraudulent transactions between 2003 and 2014 while he was the financial controller of a business.
He did not make a court appearance in March 2019; his trial was scheduled to begin the following month.
A country-wide arrest warrant was issued, and RCMP believed he had fled Canada.
On April 28, 2020, Mella was arrested in Belize on unrelated matters.
Interpol in Ottawa and Belmopan, Belize, were among the agencies that helped bring Mella back to Canada, where he was taken into custody.
He faces charges of fraud and theft over $5,000.
