Fraudsters abuse Canadians' goodwill in fire-hit region

By Eric M. Johnson
CALGARY, Alberta, May 25 (Reuters) - The salt-of-the-earth
farmers and ranchers in the western Canadian town of Claresholm
thought Darryl Rondeau and his girlfriend were just desperate
for shelter and food, like many of the thousands of evacuees
escaping the wildfire-stricken oil patch up north.
So, for a about week earlier this month, the residents
embraced them like family members, buying them meals, clothes,
and work boots, and giving them free lodging.
The local newspaper even ran a front-page story chronicling
the couple's seemingly death-defying escape from Fort McMurray
with "the fire on our tail," as Rondeau described it. "We saw
our house catch on fire," he told the paper.
But the couple were not evacuees, police say, just the most
flagrant example of people who have preyed on generous Canadians
offering aid to wildfire victims.
Charges have been filed in at least two separate incidents
where people illegally tried to obtain government debit cards
loaded with charity funds, and eight other cases are being
investigated, provincial officials said.
Alberta authorities have added security guards to sites
where relief workers dole out the cards and, at busier
locations, are using facial recognition technology to verify an
applicant's identity.
Even so, there does not appear to be a widespread problem
with stolen cards or of theft from charity funds generally,
though it is not yet clear how much money may have been stolen,
said provincial spokesman John Archer.
The Canadian Red Cross said it has collected C$104 million
in aid money and handed out about $43 million to some 36,000
evacuee households.
In the Claresholm affair, Darryl Rondeau and Jaime Cox of
British Columbia were charged with fraud after police determined
the couple had never actually lived in Fort McMurray and had no
ties to Alberta.
Rondeau pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a provincial court.
Cox is due in court on June 1, the first day that Fort McMurray
evacuees are due to return home.
Police said they launched an investigation after Rondeau and
Cox failed to register with the Red Cross, among other tell-tale
signs that raised eyebrows and pulses around town.
At one point, a restaurant owner offered Rondeau a free meal
and his girlfriend a job. She turned down the job but the pair
ordered steaks, the priciest item on the menu, said Brandi
Carlson, part owner of Roy's Place.
"The situation sucked," Carlson said. "It is what it is, but
you still have to help people. Pure and simple. It doesn't
matter who the people are. It's the right thing to do."
(1 Canadian dollar = $0.7673)