TORONTO -- Police say fraud charges have been laid eight years after a Toronto man's life turned into a "nightmare" when his identity was stolen.
Brian Perrault says he nearly went bankrupt after an alleged fraudster who assumed his identity racked up thousands of dollars in debt.
But he says some of the worst came when he was pulled over in a January 2012 traffic stop that turned into something out of an "episode of 'Cops"' with three cruisers boxing in his truck on a York Region highway.
Perrault says that's when he found out his driver's licence had been suspended and learned someone using his identity had been involved in police pursuits.
Police say that spurred a 20-month investigation in both Ontario and Alberta that has resulted in an arrest.
Midland, Ont., resident Robert Maitland, 47, faces a total of 57 charges including fraud, impersonation, possession of stolen property, identity theft, breach of recognizance.
He's due in a Newmarket, Ont., court on Thursday.
It's believed Maitland may have allegedly used other aliases and police are asking the public to contact them if they know him by any other name.
An internal RCMP report released to The Canadian Press under Access to Information warned criminals are increasingly using stolen social insurance numbers and doctored birth certificates to obtain legitimate driver's licences and passports.
The 2011 report said the failure of governments to cross-check the authenticity of personal documents used in applications allows fraudsters to stitch together a "synthetic" identity, often combining a stolen social insurance number or altered birth certificate with a made-up name and date of birth.
Though obtaining credit cards is the No. 1 goal for fraudsters, they're also exploiting gaps in the way numerous official identity documents are issued -- or using existing cards with no security features or photo -- to acquire a federal passport or provincial driver's license, according to the RCMP research.
