In late 2024, a collection of supposed skiers booked gear from Whistler rental shops.
The skis and poles had been by no means returned. The renters’ names had been allegedly aliases. And the bank cards used to safe the bookings turned out to be fraudulent.
In response to court docket paperwork obtained by CBC Information, the stolen gear later surfaced on a Fb Market account linked to a Burnaby man, who police declare employed couriers by means of social media to journey to Whistler and choose up the leases that he then bought on-line.
‘The very same data’
Burnaby RCMP declined to touch upon the case, which continues to be beneath investigation.
CBC isn’t naming the suspect, as a result of no prison prices have been filed in opposition to him. His title is contained in a warrant to go looking a storage locker in a rental constructing close to Metrotown, the place police declare he met undercover officers to swap stolen skis and boots for money.
In a doc sworn to acquire the search warrant — filed in Vancouver provincial court docket — RCMP say they consider the suspect is chargeable for the theft of hundreds of {dollars} price of leading edge ski gear.
The paperwork element an investigation that was sparked when employees at Whistler Blackcomb Leases made complaints in December about somebody failing to return gear.
A loss prevention supervisor alerted police to the truth that the serial numbers on a number of the stolen gadgets might be seen in advertisements for ski gear linked to 1 Fb Market profile. On others, the serial numbers couldn’t be seen because the gadgets had been positioned in opposition to a wall.
The leases allegedly adopted a well-known sample.
“All of the suspected fraudulent rental varieties would have the very same data for the next: i. Age; ii. Peak; iii. Weight; iv. Skier sort; v. Shoe dimension; and vi. Urged size,” the warrant says.
‘Pick the perfect skis’
Utilizing these specs, Whistler RCMP had been in a position to flag quite a lot of suspicious leases over the course of three days, and intercept three individuals who claimed that they had been employed to behave as couriers.
One of many males instructed police he “answered an advert on social media that provided a charge and fuel cash to go to Whistler and choose up skis and produce them again to Burnaby.”
“[He] has not met the poster of the advert and solely spoke over an software known as ‘Wechat,'” the warrant reads.
One other suspect claimed “he took a job from a Chinese language social media website that required him to choose up 5 units of skis from 5 completely different areas in Whistler.”
The person mentioned he was instructed “to persuade the ski employees that he’s the title on the rental settlement and to select the perfect skis.”
The search warrant claims the names the couriers supplied for the person who employed them had been aliases — as was the title on the Fb account the place the products had been afterward supply. However one of many males allegedly confirmed RCMP an e-transfer from the suspect.
An undercover sting
Every week after arresting and releasing the couriers, an undercover RCMP officer messaged the suspect Fb account to buy Stormrider skis and Salomon boots that police had been in a position to hyperlink to the Whistler thefts by means of serial numbers.
A person who launched himself as “Adam” — one other alias in accordance the warrant — met the officer within the foyer of an house constructing, the place he exchanged the skis for $1,100, paid for in $100, $50 and $20 greenback payments.
The warrant claims the identical suspect was additionally the topic of a Richmond RCMP investigation final April into an tried fraud at YVR World Obligation Free, the place somebody tried to choose up a web-based order for a “liquor bottle price $50,000.”
In an echo of the Whistler allegations, the Burnaby man claimed he “was instructed he can be paid $500 for selecting up and dropping off the bottle” to the poster of a web-based job.
“I consider [the suspect] was made conscious of this fraud scheme in April and has since eliminated himself from being the individual instantly selecting up the merchandise to now utilizing [an alias] to instruct others,” the officer who utilized for the Whistler warrant wrote.
In response to the search warrant, police believed they’d discover the skis and boots within the suspect’s storage locker and had been hoping to search out fraudulent bank cards used to make the bookings at his dwelling, in addition to the money paid within the undercover sting.
The proprietor of the Fb Market account allegedly used to hawk the stolen gear responded to an electronic mail from CBC Information with a message saying: “That is my privateness. I do not hope it to be report[ed]. Cease your story working instantly.”
In an announcement, a spokesperson for Whistler Blackcomb mentioned the resort wouldn’t touch upon the case “because of authorized sensitivities.”
“Guaranteeing a secure and optimistic expertise for our friends at Whistler Blackcomb is all the time a prime precedence,” the assertion mentioned, noting anti-theft measures together with “200 cameras on the resort used for public security and exercise monitoring round plazas, lifts and on mountain.”
Not one of the allegations have been confirmed in court docket. RCMP say the investigation continues to be ongoing.
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