Fake rental property ads | A real estate fraudster allegedly made around twenty victims

Montreal police arrested a repeat fraudster this week who allegedly robbed several people looking for housing since April. Van Lanh Vuong is accused of posing as the owner of apartments for rent, organizing fake visits and signing fake leases to disappear with one or two months’ rent in his pocket.

The fraudster even went so far as to give his victims the keys to the apartment and let them move in. This is the case of Saïfoulaye and Mamadou Moussa Diallo, two brothers who recently arrived in Quebec from Guinea. “I put an ad on Kijiji to say that I was looking for an apartment in Montreal, and he wrote to me,” says Saïfoulaye Diallo, the eldest of the siblings.

The man, who introduced himself as the owner of a furnished three-and-a-half-room apartment near the Frontenac station, allegedly offered to show them the apartment and sign the lease that same evening. The young men jumped at the chance. “We visited the apartment […]he opened the door with his keys! There was really nothing to complain about there,” adds Saïfoulaye Diallo.

Before giving them the keys to the apartment, the alleged owner allegedly asked the brothers for a “deposit” of $1,800, equivalent to two months of the rent he was posting for the apartment. The Diallos accepted, liquidating all their savings in the process.

The two brothers moved in on July 5. Shortly after, Diallo reportedly received a message from the alleged landlord telling him to leave, along with a screenshot of the real listing for the apartment they believed they had rented. “He told me he was sorry, that he did it because he needed money,” Diallo said.

“More than 20 victims”

Mathieu Cardinal, owner of the rental agency M Rentals, had put the three-and-a-half up for rent a few days earlier. The businessman suspects that the fraudster obtained the keys to the accommodation by sneaking in just after the previous tenant left on 1^er July.

“The tenant was told to leave the door unlocked and leave the keys inside for us to retrieve. That’s probably how [le suspect] “got them,” explains the man who helped the police to pin down the suspect.

“I worked closely with the SPVM, who did an incredible job. The police told me that he would have done that to more than 20 people,” says Mr. Cardinal, whose company manages a large rental housing stock on behalf of several owners.

Concerned, the Diallo brothers contacted the Montreal Police Department (SPVM) to alert them about the fraud. They also contacted Mathieu Cardinal, who asked to meet with them.

Found in Quebec

On Friday, the SPVM’s Economic Crimes Section announced that it had arrested Van Lanh Vuong, 43. He was found in Quebec City on Thursday. He appeared at the Montreal courthouse, where he was charged with fraud, breaking and entering and forging false documents (leases). He remained in custody pending further proceedings.

Van Lanh Vuong’s modus operandi was essentially the same with all of his victims, the police force confirmed. Investigators believe that the suspect, who used several different apartments, may have had other victims who have not yet come forward. “This scheme would have allowed him to scam many people and amass a significant sum of money,” the SPVM said.

Van Lanh Vuong has a long criminal history, including fraud and credit card theft. He had been wanted since May for failing to appear in court for another fraud case in which he is currently accused in Laval.

As for the Diallo brothers, they found another place to live with the help of Mathieu Cardinal, who showed them other properties managed by his company. However, this is far from the end of their troubles. “We have only just arrived, and we have no more savings,” says Mamadou Moussa Diallo, who says he hopes to find a job as soon as possible.