4 arrested in $1.8M defrauding of Calgary company

Calgary police say they have arrested members of an organized crime group from Montreal accused of defrauding a Calgary business of $1.8 million.

Officers with the commercial crime unit said Thursday that the four men, who have been charged with fraud, hacked into a database and inflated the value of debit cards.

Police said the accused then made cash withdrawals on the cards at several ATMs throughout Canada and in a number of other unnamed countries. Most of the Canadian withdrawals were made in Montreal.

All four men — three from Montreal and one from Israel — were arrested in Montreal and transported to Calgary on Tuesday.

Police did not release the name of the Calgary-based company that was targeted, saying only that it sells debit and credit cards with pre-paid balances.

None of the company's individual customers lost money as a result.

The seven-month investigation was a joint effort of police from Montreal, Vancouver and the United States Secret Service.