Alleged airline ticket scam worth $500k leads to arrest of Ontario man

A Vaughan, Ont. man has been charged, and a warrant has been issued for a Brampton woman, after two people allegedly sold $500,000 worth of fraudulently issued plane tickets.
According to Peel police, between June and December 2021, two suspects allegedly misrepresented themselves as employees of travel agencies based out of the United Kingdom to secure access to an online booking portal belonging to a “major European airline.”
Police allege the two people fraudulently sold valid plane tickets to unsuspecting customers while collecting the payments for themselves.
More than 250 airline tickets were sold at a total value of approximately $500,000, police allege.
“The majority of the customers who purchased the tickets were from the Calgary area and the flights were primarily to Africa,” Peel police said in a news release Thursday.
Adebowale Adiatu, 32, was arrested and charged with fraud over $5,000, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and possession of property obtained by crime.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Gbemisola Akinrinade, 44, from Brampton for six charges, including fraud over $5,000.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | U.S. President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.

Trudeau, Biden could agree to end 'loophole' in Safe Third Country Agreement: CP source
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Opposition parties affirm call for interference inquiry, amid questions over MP Han Dong
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
'Scream as loud as you can': 5 boys rescued from NYC tunnel
Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they crawled through a storm drain tunnel in New York City and got lost, authorities said.
Asteroid to hurtle past Earth closer than the moon this weekend
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
Number of Canadians receiving EI at record lows, down 44 per cent from last year: StatCan
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Indigenous sisters developing video games to revitalize Mohawk language
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Here are the locations of the first 12 new Zellers stores
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.
South Carolina's top accountant to resign after US$3.5-billion error
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.