Fraud with Desjardins data | A well-oiled organization, linked to organized crime

Documents from the Desjardins data theft investigation that have been made public depict a well-oiled network of fraudsters linked to organized crime who lived a life of luxury thanks to the embezzled millions.

The statements filed to obtain search warrants as part of Project Glaive largely concern the three individuals that Laval police charged on June 12: Ayoub Kourdal, Imad Jbara and Nassim Alikacem, who is still wanted. Together, they allegedly stole $8.9 million from Mouvement clients by accessing the AccèsD online platform and changing their passwords.

Investigators state in the documents that Ayoub Kourdal “is well known […] for his links with individuals connected to organized crime.

He reportedly received repeated visits from police officers at his condo on Chenonceau Boulevard in Laval. In October 2018, officers found him injured in the head after an assault by three men armed with a knife and a gun, according to police. However, he reportedly refused to cooperate with the investigation.

In a tablet seized in February 2019, investigators found photos of Kourdal in which he is carrying a gun on his belt. In other images, he is handling “large sums of money,” as well as “watches and jewelry that appear to be of great value.”

Another accused on June 12, Imad Jbara, was known to the Montreal police’s Éclipse squad, which specializes in combating armed violence.

In March 2019, Kourdal and Jbara were living together in an apartment in the Roccabella luxury condo tower in downtown Montreal.

The police allegations have not been proven in court.

Identified IP addresses

According to the documents, police were able to identify the alleged fraudsters by cross-referencing the IP addresses of the computers used in their frauds. (An IP address is a way of locating an electronic device on the web, much like the address of a house in a city.)

The suspects were allegedly caught logging into their own legitimate accounts on AccèsD using the same devices used for their fraud.

Millions evaporated

The documents reveal that the fraud initially targeted about sixty Desjardins business clients. They also mention that the Laval police obtained assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which was present at a meeting at the Mouvement’s head office in February 2019.

Along with Alikacem, Kourdal and Jbara allegedly transferred millions “to different banks around the world,” the police said.

Among their victims were two notaries who had their professional accounts with Desjardins. One of them was defrauded of $4.5 million. The police note that the same amount was then transferred to different accounts abroad.

An Atlanta jewelry store also allegedly received $100,000 for the purchase of watches. Kourdal’s sister then traveled to the Georgian metropolis to “pick up the watches” from her brother, according to analysis of her cellphone, seized in February 2019.

As part of their investigation, the Laval police seized a large quantity of jewelry. At Alikacem’s, they got their hands on an Audemars Piguet watch valued at nearly $70,000.

Luxury car fraud

Police documents also mention another suspect in the investigation who has not yet been arrested or charged: Andréas Swierkot. He allegedly used the identities of Desjardins clients to open shell companies, which were then used to fraudulently acquire luxury vehicles.

Contacted by The Press Regarding him, the Laval police indicated that his file “is in the hands of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions,” but did not explain why he had not yet been charged. “In order not to interfere with the legal proceedings, there are certain details that we cannot comment on,” said Geneviève Major.

The police note that he has a long criminal record: use of false documents, fraud, hit and run causing bodily harm, unauthorized use of a computer… Investigators note that in June 2018, he was driving a Ferrari, while he was shopping for a Range Rover truck.

He allegedly used his partners

According to the documents, Swierkot used his partners in his frauds. In January 2019, one of them was questioned by Laval police about her role in this case.

“The suspect remains silent, but claims she is afraid to talk. She is crying and claims she can’t take it anymore, that she is tired of all these stories, the police documents state. She claims she doesn’t know what to do to get out of it.”

After this interrogation, the police concluded that she is “probably just a pawn” and that she “fraudulently rents vehicles on behalf of criminals, possibly including her partner Swierkot.”

The police documents also refer to statements obtained as part of another investigation into him, in a case of criminal harassment against another ex-partner. She was then living in a “very large” luxury house on Montreuil Street in Laval.

“When I was trying to dump him, he continued to pay my credit cards despite me even though I told him not to pay me anything,” she told police. “When he finally realized that it was really over on my end, he started calling me about a hundred times a day. He was asking me to give him back $24,000 and the documents I had on him.”

She showed them a screenshot of a wallet of 387 bitcoins attributed to Swierkot, worth $2.6 million in February 2019. Such cryptocurrencies would be worth nearly $30 million today.