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Crime

EPS investigation identifies purchase order scam targeting PPE and industrial equipment companies across the globe

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EPS investigation identifies purchase order scam targeting PPE and industrial equipment companies across the globe

April 30, 2020
A comprehensive investigation undertaken by the EPS Economic Crimes Section has helped several Canadian and American companies recover more than $1.5M of industrial and personal protective equipment (PPE) fraudulently ordered by suspects with connections to Nigeria.

The online scheme targeting PPE, industrial and electronic equipment companies in Canada, the United States and Australia, has seen the suspects impersonating various commercial companies, including “Clean Harbors”, a large North American environmental, energy and industrial service provider. The suspects would then contact various suppliers using altered emails, the names of associated company executives and illegally obtained credit reference information to fraudulently obtain shipments of various equipment including the highly sought-after N95 masks. The equipment was then shipped to warehouses across Canada and the United States by the suspects, who are believed to be operating from Nigeria and London, UK.

It is alleged that the suspects would then coordinate an online pick-up from a courier company using compromised courier accounts, and have the shipment delivered to England, where it was then moved to companies with exporting connections to Nigeria.

“Many companies around the world are dealing with various challenges right now just trying to financially stay afloat during this pandemic,” stated Det. Jason Lapointe, of the EPS Economic Crimes Section. “Then they find themselves under attack by criminals from abroad that are attempting to fraudulently acquire various equipment, including PPE, destined to help those who are in desperate need of it. It’s unconscionable really.”

In mid-March, ECS investigators received information that a Leduc company had been targeted. The local electronics company had received a purchase order worth approximately $18,000 for two-way radios. The order was initially placed by email through Clean Harbors, a vendor known to the local company through previous business transactions.

It was reported to police that the Leduc equipment company then received a subsequent email supposedly from Clean Harbors requesting that the shipment of two-way radios be re-directed to a location in Calgary. Representatives with the local company became suspicious and contacted Clean Harbors to clarify the situation, which confirmed their suspicions that they were being defrauded by someone impersonating an executive with Clean Harbors. As a result, representatives from the Leduc company were able to stop the shipment from being delivered.

In early April, an Edmonton telecommunications equipment supplier fell victim to this scam after a shipment of equipment worth $170,000 was sent to a storage facility in the UK.  EPS Economic Crimes Section prevented another $130,000 shipment of equipment made by this same Edmonton company from reaching its final destination, after it was located at a shipment center in Ontario

As an example of this scam’s impact on the current COVID-19 crisis, these same suspects placed orders through two Canadian corporations situated in Quebec and B.C. for $100,000 worth of personal respirators and replacement N95 3M filters.  These shipments were located at separate loading facilities, and EPS Economic Crimes Section investigators facilitated the return of these shipments to the respective companies.

The EPS Economic Crimes Section is urging businesses to remain vigilant when dealing with potential clients online.

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Alberta

Calgary police identify 15-year-old girl killed in shooting, investigation continues

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Calgary (CP) – Calgary police have identified a 15-year-old girl who was fatally shot this week as investigators try to determine whether she was the intended target or if it was a case of mistaken identity.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting in an alley in the Martindale neighbourhood early Tuesday morning.

They say the teenager was a passenger in a vehicle when she was shot and that the driver, who was not injured, immediately fled the scene before pulling over to call police.

Police say investigators have received several tips from the public.

They say evidence from the scene leads police to believe it was targeted, but investigators haven’t determined whether the occupants of the vehicle were the intended targets.

The girl has been identified as Sarah Alexis Jorquera of Calgary.

“This was a senseless act of violence that took the life of a young girl,” Staff Sgt. Martin Schiavetta of the homicide unit said in a statement Wednesday.

“At this point, we have more questions than answers and are working around the clock to hold those responsible accountable. Losing a 15-year-old is a tragic loss for our community, her school, her friends and, most importantly, her family.”

Police ask anyone with any information about the shooting to call investigators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.

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Crime

Children lost in shooting were ‘feisty,’ a ‘shining light’

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This undated photo shows Evelyn Dieckhaus a student at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Dieckhaus was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at the school. (AP Photo)

By Adrian Sainz, Kristin M. Hall, Holly Meyer And Ben Finley in Nashville

NASHVILLE (AP) — Details from the rich, full lives of the three adults killed Monday at a Nashville elementary school have emerged quickly in the aftermath, but information on the three 9-year-old children — whose lives ended tragically young — has been slower to publicly surface from a community buried in grief.

The children slain at The Covenant School were Hallie Scruggs, described by an aunt as “always on the go”; Evelyn Dieckhaus, her family’s “shining light”; and William Kinney, whose family has said little publicly so far.

A woman who identified herself as Hallie’s aunt, Kara Scruggs Arnold, wrote on Facebook that Hallie was “incredibly smart, feisty enough to keep up with her 3 brothers and my 4 boys.”

Hallie had a “love for life that kept her smiling and running and jumping and playing and always on the go,” Arnold added in her post.

Hallie’s father Chad Scruggs is the lead pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is associated with The Covenant School. The private Christian school has about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade, as well as roughly 50 staff members, according to its website.

Evelyn was described as the Dieckhaus family’s “shining light” on a GoFundMe page that has been set up for them. But her family, too, was reluctant to talk about her or the enormity of their loss.

The adults who were killed were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, Mike Hill, 61, a custodian, and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.

In a video statement released Tuesday evening, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Peak was supposed to have dinner with his wife, Maria, after filling in as a substitute teacher at Covenant.

“Maria woke up this morning without one of her best friends,” Lee said, adding that Peak, Koonce and his wife had once taught together and “have been family friends for decades.”

Sandra McCalla, a former administrator at the high school Peak attended in Shreveport, Louisiana, said Peak served as the statistician at girls’ basketball games and track meets before graduating in 1979.

“She was busy in the background making good things happen,” said McCalla, who served as the principal of Captain Shreve High School for 30 years.

Chuck Owen, who knew Peak from childhood, said Peak’s father was a well-known doctor in Leesville, Louisiana, where the family lived before moving to Shreveport.

He said, “everyone knew her, knew her family” and that she was “just a sweet person from a sweet family.”

Owen added that Peak was a devout follower of God, and it did not surprise him that she was working at a Christian school.

“She told me that she got saved in college and that God’s love changed her life,” he said.

Nashville songwriter Natalie Hemby posted on Instagram that Peak “taught me how to swim. Keep my head above water… which is what we’re all trying to do right now.”

Peak’s family issued a statement saying their “hearts are broken,” and called Peak “a pillar of the community, and a teacher beloved by all her students.”

“She never wavered in her faith and we know she is wrapped in the arms of Jesus,” the statement said.

Koonce, the head of The Covenant School, was a woman of deep faith who saw educating kids as her mission.

“It’s what God called her to do,” close friend Jackie Bailey said.

“We’re in such shock,” Bailey added. “I was looking around my house, and every piece of cross stitch that I have on the wall, she did – she gave to me.”

One of them said: “A friend loveth at all times.”

“That’s Proverb 17:17,” Bailey said. “That’s the kind of person she was. She loved at all times.”

Bailey added: “If there was any trouble in that school, she would run to it, not from it. She was trying to protect those kids … That’s just what I believe.”

Koonce’s family said in a statement Wednesday that she “gave her life to protect the students she loved.”

“We are devastated by our loss but depending on our God for comfort and healing,” the family said. “It is our privilege to honor Katherine’s legacy and to celebrate her remarkable spirit.”

Before Koonce took the top role with Covenant, Anna Caudill, a former art teacher, worked with her for almost a decade at Christ Presbyterian Academy, another Christian school in the area connected to a Presbyterian Church in America congregation.

“She was an absolute dynamo and one of the smartest women I’ll ever know,” said Caudill, recalling how Koonce excelled at her day job while parenting her children, pursuing her masters and then her PhD, and writing a book.

Caudill, who grew up in several male-led Christian denominations, said Koonce was the first woman in such a setting to encourage her to keep learning and pursuing her life goals.

“She wasn’t Wonder Woman, but I never saw the two in the same place,” Caudill said.

Friends of Hill, the custodian, said they believed he would have died protecting the school’s children.

Pastor Tim Dunavant, of the Hartsville First United Methodist Church, said in a Facebook post that he hired Hill to work at Covenant more than a decade ago.

“I don’t know the details yet. But I have a feeling, when it all comes out, Mike’s sacrifice saved lives,” Dunavant wrote.

Hill’s family issued a statement saying, “We pray for the Covenant School and are so grateful that Michael was beloved by the faculty and students who filled him with joy for 14 years. He was a father of seven children … and 14 grandchildren. He liked to cook and spend time with family.”

Another pastor, Jim Bachmann, said Hill was “one of those people you cannot not like” and that he made a point of learning the names of all the students and talking to them.

Bachmann was the founding pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, which runs the school, and is the current pastor of Stephens Valley Church, where Hill was a member and sometimes served as a greeter.

On those occasions, Hill would “dress up like he was going to meet the president of the United States,” Bachmann said. He added, “Everybody loved Mike, and he loved them back.”

___

Associated Press reporters Travis Loller in Nashville and Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this story. Sainz reported from Memphis. Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.

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