A Richmond Hill man has been charged with numerous counts of fraud amounting to $600,000, and police are asking any other victims to come forward.
York Regional Police began investigating a construction company operating as National Concrete Forming and Pars Concrete in 2022. Police say a suspect bought concrete forms and other construction materials using fraudulent bank drafts before selling the items to third parties at a discounted rate.
By the time the initial sellers realized the bank drafts were fake, the money was gone. The transactions totalled $600,000 in frauds.
On Jan. 16, police executed a warrant at an address in Toronto associated with company owner Ruzbeh Akhlaghi, who was arrested, police said.
Victims’ trust was gained before they accepted large bank drafts for products, and police said they believe similar transactions had been made for several years in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas and that there are “many more” victims who have yet to come forward.
Akhlaghi, 45, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 (six counts), fraud under $5,000, false pretense (four counts), possession of property obtained by crime (four counts), uttering a forged document (three counts), trafficking in property obtained by crime, breach of probation (six counts), break and enter, conspiracy to commit fraud, and counterfeiting mark.
At the time of these offences, the accused was on probation for unrelated crimes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the York Regional Police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 6611. Information can be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or 1800222tips.com.
