Ottawa man arrested for fake investment scam where victims lost over $240K

Following an investigation, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) have charged an Ottawa man with numerous counts of fraud.

The man is accused of running a fake investment scam, defrauding friends and acquaintances of over $240,000, wrote OPS in a news release.

The man has been identified as Timothy Laflamme, 39, who has been charged with:

• Eight counts of fraud over $5,000
• Two counts of fraud under $5,000

According to Ottawa police, Laflamme allegedly offered victims an opportunity to invest with a company that he described as being a real estate platform, portraying himself as a qualified investor.

Once unknowing victims invested, the accused used their money to cover personal expenses and to invest in cryptocurrency, explained police.

Laflamme appeared in court March 26, they noted. No further details are available at this time.

OPS is asking anyone that has been defrauded by this individual to contact the Ottawa Police Service Fraud Section at 613-236-1222 x 5190 or by email atfraud@ottawapolice.ca.

Increasing amount of money lost to scams

Swindles like this are becoming all too common in the east region and across Canada, John Armit, Detective Constable in the economic crimes and corruption unit of the OPP, previously told CityNews in an interview.

“Ontario will have the largest fraud stats and the same thing is population-based for east region versus west,” he said. “But we’re all seeing the same pattern.”

Which are unsuspecting victims losing — at times — thousands of dollars to scammers. OPP don’t have specific statistics to pull from and instead use the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s (CAFC) data. Semi-official data shared with CityNews from Armit notes a “staggering” increase in the amount of money Canadians have lost to fraud in 2024.

There is no specific data for the east region but police say that the number one scam they are seeing is cryptocurrency investment fraud.