On August 26, 2024, the East Algoma Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) began a fraud investigation that occurred between August 10, 2024, and August 18, 2024, that took place at a local outfitters store in the City of Elliot Lake.
Investigation determined an employee stole store items, cash, had pocketed money from the till and refunded store items by falsifying invoices. Â Closed circuit television (CCTV) recorded most of the fraudulent transactions and thefts.
On August 29, 2024, at approximately 7:00 p.m., the OPP made an arrest and recovered more store items.
As a result, Martin BATES, 48 years-of-age from Elliot Lake was charged with:
- Fraud under $5000 (seven counts)
- Falsification books and documents (five counts)
- Theft under $5000 (four counts)
The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Elliot Lake on October 10, 2024.
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