After a routine traffic stop, Toronto police have laid 373 charges against four men in an international investigation into gift card fraud that has turned up links to the Tamil Tigers.
Police pulled over a rented vehicle in the Brimley Road and Brimwood Boulevard area in Scarborough on Monday for a traffic infraction.
During their investigation, officers located 41 gift cards from various stores inside the car. The magnetic strip on the backs of the cards contained the debit card data of bank customers from the United Kingdom, police say.
All four men inside the vehicle were arrested. Two search warrants were executed, one at a hotel in Markham and the other at a home on Ellesmere Road.
After the searches, officers found 88 gift cards that all had U.K. bank customer data on the magnetic strips, police say.
Detectives seized two laptop computers, computer memory cards, passports, Tamil Tiger paraphernalia, a pinhole camera device, $25,000 in Canadian currency and receipts for money transfers to residents in the U.K.
While the investigation is continuing, police say the potential fraud from the cards seized is approximately $250,000.
Charged are Toronto residents Pratheepan Thambu, 22, and Lojanand Srianandan, 27; and London, U.K. residents Sethukavalar Saravanabavan, 35, and Kirubakaran Selvanayagam Pillai, 38.
Each face:
- 41 counts of fraudulently possessing credit card data
- 41 counts of possessing property obtained by crime
- Participating in a criminal organization
Pillai is additionally charged with 41 counts of fraudulently possessing credit card data. The accused will next appear in court on Friday.
Police expect to lay more charges in connection with the property seized.
