$240K student loan fraud scheme busted, say Calgary police

Calgary police have laid charges in a student loan scam that defrauded several schools and a provincial agency out of more than $240,000.

The investigation started in October 2019 when a provincial peace officer with the Advanced Education Special Investigations team contacted Calgary police after noticing multiple inconsistencies with several student loan applications, according to a release on Tuesday.

Investigators determined it was part of a scheme run by two men from May 2017 to May 2020 to defraud Alberta Student Aid and several private post-secondary institutions.

It's believed the culprits used stolen identities from 21 unsuspecting people whose personal information had been stolen in data breaches to fraudulently apply for student loans.

The two men used the stolen identities to enroll at numerous post-secondary schools and to open bank accounts to receive the financial aid.

"The suspects would physically attend the school, posing as a student under a fraudulent identity, to satisfy the requirements for obtaining the loan payouts," the release said.

Most of the loan applications resulted in initial loan approvals ranging from $25,000 to $38,000 for each fake student.

"To secure the second loan payout, the suspects would phone the Alberta Student Aid office posing as the applicable student and request a release of the remaining funds. The total payout for each loan was as high as $27,000," the release said.

Dave Guylenz Mitchell Beauvais, 32, faces several charges, including money laundering and fraud over $5,000. His next court appearance is set for Nov. 10.

His alleged accomplice, Kader Dahchi, 30, is wanted on warrants for one count of using a forged document and one count of identity fraud.

Calgary police say there has been a spike in identity offences committed online since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2019, there were 148 online identity crimes reported in Calgary. In 2020, that number rose to 261.