U.S-Canadian Law Enforcement Partnership

UNCLAS MONTREAL 000123 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CAN EVELYN WHEELER OTTAWA FOR DHS/ICE, POL, PD AND CONS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM PINS SOCI CA SUBJECT: U.S-Canadian Law Enforcement Partnership Dismantles Fraudulent Telemarketing Ring in Montreal On February 3, 2005, Project COLT, the U.S.-Canadian law enforcement task force to combat telemarketing fraud, successfully completed an operation known as Project CORAL. The task force's 18 months of collaborative work led to 28 arrests and culminated with the dismantling of a fraudulent telemarketing ring alleged to have defrauded over 100,000 victims to the tune of approximately $US 45 million. Law enforcement agencies that partnered on this operation included: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Quebec Provincial Police, Montreal City Police, Canadian Competition Board, U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Postal Inspector Service. Project CORAL received wide media coverage (Feb 3-4). Two individuals arrested in Montreal were charged with leading the scheme alleged to have misrepresented pre- approved bank loans for low-income U.S. residents with poor credit. For a fee of three hundred US dollars (US$300),the bogus company reportedly made unsolicited calls to offer a "guaranteed" credit card. While some victims received a manual on how to repair poor credit, none of them are known to have received a credit card. Also arrested, was a former HSBC Bank USA Vice President (out of the Manhattan, NY office),alleged to have facilitated the scheme by selling to the bogus company the credit manuals that were provided to some victims instead of the "guaranteed" credit cards. ALLEN