Two arrested by Surrey RCMP after defrauding credit card companies of about $350,000

All photos by Jay Sharma of Mahi Photo Studio
All photos by Jay Sharma of Mahi Photo Studio
CRIME SURREY CREDIT CARD FRAUD 3 Jay
Dan Weaver of the Canadian Bankers Association and Surrey RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann.

CRIME SURREY CREDIT CARD FRAUD 2 JaySURREY RCMP’s Economic Crime Unit (ECU) announced on Thursday that they have arrested and charged two prolific offenders after an extensive investigation revealed over a quarter million dollars in fraudulent offences.

Dean Gallo, 32, of Surrey and Hannah Denman, 26, of Delta were arrested and charged with fraud over $5,000 and possession of credit card data.  In addition, Gallo has been charged with possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm while prohibited.  Gallo has been remanded in custody while Denman has been released on strict bail conditions.

On April 8, Surrey RCMP ECU received a call from a major Canadian financial institution that reported one of their customer’s corporate credit card accounts had been compromised. After a thorough investigation, ECU officers allege that the two offenders worked together to defraud credit card companies of nearly $350,000.

On April 20, investigators executed four search warrants at two residences and a mail box depot.  The evidence seized as a result of the search warrants included $20,000 of property including a $10,000 bicycle, several computers, furniture and rare, collector coins. The computers had hundreds of credit card profiles on them. Also seized were 250 stolen credit cards along with 450 pieces of stolen mail from Richmond, Surrey and New Westminster.  A loaded shotgun was also found in a bedroom.

“The amount of personal data that these two persons possessed was immense,” said Cpl. Scotty Schumann. “The information the pair had collected was being used to create credit cards for persons whose identities they’d stolen. The fraudulently obtained cards were then used to buy merchandise which was sold for cash.  With the help of our partners, including the Canadian Banker’s Association and Canada Post, we were able to bring this investigation to a close fairly quickly.”

For information on how to protect yourself against fraud, see the RCMP website for tips.

Anyone with information about fraud is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.