Dartmouth woman with fake IDs facing over 50 fraud-related charges

A woman from Dartmouth, N.S., with a prior criminal record for fraud and identity theft is facing more than 50 fraud-related charges following her arrest last month.

The alleged offences took place over a three-year period and mostly targeted her employer, a Lower Sackville building supply store, Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said Thursday.

"It involved forged sick notes and even a death certificate regarding a loved one to gain financial benefit from the frauds, ultimately," Tremblay said in an interview.

The 47-year-old woman used the phoney death certificate to get paid leave and collect money from a fundraiser organized by co-workers, he said.

Among the charges she faces are 16 counts of fraud under $5,000, 19 counts of possession of property obtained by crime and 20 counts of use or possession of forged documents.

The woman was carrying identification bearing five different names when she was arrested, "but investigators have confirmed that there are additional names that are out there," Tremblay said.

When police searched a Dartmouth home, he said they found an unlicensed bolt-action rifle, which resulted in several firearms charges.

This is not the accused's first brush with the law.

In January 2013, she was sentenced for identity theft and fraud and was placed on probation for 18 months. In December 2012, she pleaded guilty to two offences under the Income Tax Act. She was fined $4,179 for one and $15,368 for the other, and also received a one-year conditional sentence, followed by a year's probation.

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