Charges laid in odometer roll back scam

The Calgary Police Service has charged a man in relation to vehicle odometer roll backs that defrauded over 50 victims.

In January 2014, a credit card company alerted the Economic Crimes Unit about a number of locally skimmed cards being used for fraudulent purchases in Calgary. The cards were being used to service vehicles and purchase vehicle parts.

Investigators learned that the vehicles being serviced were being purchased at an auction house. Over the course of three years the suspect had purchased 54 vehicles. The vehicles had high kilometres but they had been rolled back between purchase from the auction house and attempting to sell them online. In one case, approximately 208,000 kilometres were rolled back.

The approximate value of fraud is $300,000, with the number likely to increase as more victims are identified.

Andriy PLYUSNIN, 28, of Calgary, faces one count of fraud over $5,000.