Toonie Scam in British Columbia

[Bimat]

Suspect wanted after toonies fraud costs B.C. banks $30,000

Oct. 3, 2018 12:00 a.m.

Police say 17 banks in British Columbia were defrauded of more than $30,000 over a three-month period by a suspect who allegedly passed off washers as toonies hidden in coin rolls.

North Vancouver RCMP say the alleged scam involved the exchange of bills for more than 600 rolls of what were presented to the banks as $2 coins.

Each roll of 25 coins was worth $50 and the Mounties say they were exchanged between March and May.

Although the rolls appeared legitimate, police allege only the toonies at the end of each roll were real and the remainder of the roll contained metal washers.

After an investigation that spanned several municipalities, the RCMP say a report was submitted and the B.C. Prosecution Service issued an arrest warrant on Sept. 19.

Police say 43-year-old Terrelle Talbot, who is of no fixed address but is originally from Nova Scotia, is wanted on 17 counts of criminal fraud over $5,000.

Source: BC Local News

[Bimat]

I wish this was a fake news but it's not.

Aditya

[Figleaf]

Why didn't the tellers weigh the rolls? Washers have holes, so either the roll is of an incorrect length or it's too light.

Peter

[Bimat]

Fooling 17 banks is no easy job. How did they do it?

Aditya

[quaziright]

It's probably an inside job with the tellers. However, it's normally common that the tellers do not physically check the rolls. But they are also habituated to feeling it by weight and touch, they should have noticed something off sooner rather than later

On another note, can we change it to British COLUMBIA and not ColOMbia. It's gnawing at me

[Pabitra]

Why didn't the tellers weigh the rolls? Washers have holes, so either the roll is of an incorrect length or it's too light.

The end "coins" would have been without the holes.
The holes would be large enough to ensure the the washer was of right thickness and weight, despite being made of different material.
Thickness would not make any difference since one does not count the pieces in roll if it is of right length.
The makers have to be smarter than the bank teller and that is not really asking for too much.