A total of 48 charges have been approved against four men in relation to a 2023 Prolific Offender Suppression Team (POST) theft and fraud investigation.

In April 2023, Burnaby RCMP’s POST executed a search warrant at a property in Pitt Meadows. During the search police located two excavators, two industrial printers and various indicators that the location was being used as an organized fraud factory.

Along with the excavators and industrial printers, hundreds of items were seized, including, numerous printers, hard drives, network storage, laser engravers, a VIN plate stamping machine and modifying tools, hundreds of fraudulent identification cards and blank identification cards, blank bank draft paper, a handgun and ammunition, police said.

On January 8, 2025, the BC Prosecution Service approved 48 charges against four men, Joel Ellingson, 50, Kelly Roberge, 54, Wesley Lawson, 33, and Michael Ridley, 37.

The men are facing, collectively, a total of 19 counts alleging 48 charges, including theft over $5,000; possession of stolen property over $5,000; identity theft; tampering with a vehicle identification number; possession of identity fraud documents; illegal use of credit card data; falsifying credit cards; forgery; and personation.
“Identity theft and fraud can have serious and long-lasting impacts on victims,” said Cpl. Mike Kalanj with Burnaby RCMP. “We believe disrupting and dismantling this operation likely prevented additional people from becoming victims.”

The file is now before the courts, police said.