$240K student loan fraud scheme busted, say Calgary police

Calgary police have laid charges in a student loan scam that defrauded several schools and a provincial agency out of more than $240,000. 

The investigation started in October 2019 when a provincial peace officer with the Advanced Education Special Investigations team contacted Calgary police after noticing multiple inconsistencies with several student loan applications, according to a release on Tuesday.

Investigators determined it was part of a scheme run by two men from May 2017 to May 2020 to defraud Alberta Student Aid and several private post-secondary institutions.

It's believed the culprits used stolen identities from 21 unsuspecting people — whose personal information had been stolen in data breaches — to fraudulently apply for student loans.

The two men used the stolen identities to enroll at numerous post-secondary schools and to open bank accounts to receive the financial aid.

"The suspects would physically attend the school, posing as a student under a fraudulent identity, to satisfy the requirements for obtaining the loan payouts," the release said.

Most of the loan applications resulted in initial loan approvals ranging from $25,000 to $38,000 for each fake student.

"To secure the second loan payout, the suspects would phone the Alberta Student Aid office posing as the applicable student and request a release of the remaining funds. The total payout for each loan was as high as $27,000," the release said.

Dave Guylenz Mitchell Beauvais, 32, faces several charges, including money laundering and fraud over $5,000. His next court appearance is set for Nov. 10. 

His alleged accomplice, Kader Dahchi, 30, is wanted on warrants for one count of using a forged document and one count of identity fraud.

Calgary police say there has been a spike in identity offences committed online since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2019, there were 148 online identity crimes reported in Calgary. In 2020, that number rose to 261.