Brampton Man Charged in Spiritual Scam

Published January 19, 2017 at 2:57 pm

A 40-year-old Brampton man has been arrested for defrauding a Brampton woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.

A 40-year-old Brampton man has been arrested for defrauding a Brampton woman out of tens of thousands of dollars.

In July 2016, suspect Darshan Dhaliwal met the victim and told her that he had won the lottery and that “he had a lot of good luck as he was very close to god.”

Dhaliwal managed to obtain a significant quantity of money and valuable goods from the victim. He told he he would bury the money in the ground and pray to remove the evil spirits. He also promised to promptly return her money post-ceremony.

The victim provided the suspect with money over time and was later told that evil spirits were present in her jewellery. The victim gave her jewellery to Dhaliwal, but contacted Peel police after her cash and goods went unreturned.

According to police, the victim was defrauded out of approximately $61,000 in cash and jewellery.

Dhaliwal was arrested and charged on Wednesday, Jan, 18 for fraud over $5,000 and breach of recognizance. He was held for a bail hearing that same day and will appear in court at a later date.

Police believe there may be other victims and are urging anyone who may have scammed by Dhaliwal to contact authorities.

Anyone with information in relation to this incident is asked to contact Fraud Investigators at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3353. Information can also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting their website at www.peelcrimestoppers.ca, or by sending a text message to CRIMES (274637) with the word “Peel” and then your tip.

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