Two men from Milton face fraud charges in relation to a fake lottery scheme that targeted senior citizens in the United States.
According to investigators from the Toronto police and U.S. agencies such as Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, senior citizens in the U.S. reported receiving unsolicited mail that contained a cheque and a letter which told them to call a claims agent.
A person on the phone claiming to be an agent then instructed recipients to deposit the cheque and send the money back in order to win a prize.
Investigators said that recipients who sent money back to the agent were later informed that the cheque was fake and that there was no prize to receive.
The money collected from the scam was laundered in both the U.S. and Canada but was headed by Canadians, investigators said.
Back in December, five people were arrested in connection with this investigation.
On Tuesday, two additional suspects identified as Milton residents Harry Cole, 46, and Elo Cole, 39, were arrested and charged with possession of proceeds of crime, fraud over $5,000, laundering the proceeds of crime and participating in or contributing to a criminal organization.
They made an appearance in court on Wednesday.
