Bassam Salman has been arrested by Montreal police’s fraud department after allegedly orchestrating an elaborate fraud scheme and embezzling $9 million in funds over nine years.
The 62-year-old was arrested on June 21 in Longueuil, QC. If convicted, the case is considered to be one of the biggest fraud scheme’s in the province’s history. Montreal police say Salman is facing fraud charges of over $5,000; if found guilty, he could face up to 14 years in prison.
According to police, the fraud would have been committed between 2004 and 2012 while Salman was working as an advisor and then a financial service director in a Bank of Montreal (BMO) branch. Salman allegedly embezzled money from customers, produced false documents and made transactions without the customers’ authorization.
In 2012, Salman quit his job and returned to his home country of Lebanon. BMO filed a complaint to the Montreal police in 2013 after detecting the fraud.
Read more at Montreal Gazette
