An fraud  investigation that commenced in May has resulted in three local people being charged with passing cheques from a defunct long term care facility.

On May 6, 2019 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers at the Prince Edward County Detachment started an investigation regarding fraudulent cheques being drawn on an account at three banking institutions in Picton, Ontario.

A complainant had come forward to the OPP advising she had information about a fraudulent cheque that was given to her for deposit.

Investigation revealed that the cheque belonged to “Picton Manor”, a nursing home that was closed in 2012. Police determined that an amount of over $10,000 was drawn on this account by three male suspects at three different banking institutions.

On June 22, 2019 Prince Edward OPP arrested Galen Swackhammer, 19, from Bloomfield,  Tristen Usher, 18, from Picton, Ontario and a 16-year-old male also from Bloomfield who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

All have been charged with the following offences under the Criminal Code:

• Fraud over $5,000 – Section 380(1)(a)
• Use, Trafficking or Possession of Forged Document – Section 368(1)(a)

Both accused adults were released on a promise to appear with an officer in charge undertaking in the Ontario Court of Justice in Picton.  The youth was released on promise to appear with an officer in charge undertaking to appear in Youth Court in Picton at a later date.

The Prince Edward OPP would like to appeal to the public for information or victims of this fraudulent activity regarding cheques from Picton Manor.

Any person with information regarding the person(s) responsible for any other fraudulent cheques should immediately contact the Ontario Provincial Police at 1-888-310-1122 or the Prince Edward OPP at 1-613-476-2151.   Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.

In other OPP news:

• Police have charged a male driver from Markham ON, in relation to another crash at the corner of Highway 62 and County Rd. 1.

On Thursday July 4, 2019 at approximately 4:30 p.m. officers from the Prince Edward County Detachment responded to a two vehicle collision.

A Dodge Caravan travelling east on County Rd 1 entered the intersection and was struck by a northbound Honda Flex. This is the second serious collision at this intersection within a matter of days that Prince Edward OPP have investigated.

There was no injuries reported with this incident.

Meng Kai WANG, 32,  was served a Provincial Offence Notice and has been charged with fail to yield to traffic on through highway contrary to the Highway Traffic Act.

• Prince Edward OPP are investigating a Sunday night ATV crash in Rossmore that sent two people to hospital.

First responders and police were called to an address on County Rd. 3 just before 8 p.m. July 7 to a crash that involved a pair of ATV riders and a tree.

A 24 year old female driver and a 71 year old male passenger were injured in the collision and transported to hospital with critical injuries.

OPP Technical Collision Investigator (TCI) and Reconstructionist attended to the scene to assist with the continuing investigation.

-Staff