Metropasses. Credit cards. Health cards. Driver's licenses. Your SIN.
They're vital documents to you.
But they're gold to thieves.
And cops who went prospecting for those fortune hunters have now made a big score.
Peel Police and the T.T.C's. Special Constable Unit both had a hand in a major forgery bust that made all those materials and more part of the booty.
The hunt began last May when Red Rocket officials put out a notice about phony Metropasses that were being distributed in the city. From there, they began to follow a long and winding road of deception that eventually led cops to a residence in Mississauga.
Armed with a search warrant, they entered the home last December 20th, and discovered illegal equipment - like computers, hot stamp pressers, special inks and more - that allowed suspects to turn out the illegal phonies by the thousands. They also found seemingly endless supplies of the finished products.
They were stunned to see scores of blank cards, OHIP cards, altered driver's licenses, even passport photos arrayed inside the home.
Cops put the bogus copies on display Thursday (top left), and maintain easy access to technology is making this kind of fraud easier and easier for crooks to commit.
"It boils down to money," contends Acting Det. Sgt. Brian Wintermute. "A person can make money obviously doing this type of thing and if they're good at it and able to produce credit cards, able to produce in this case the T.T.C. passes, the Ontario driver's licenses, health cards, SIN cards - it all boils down to money ... Diversify ... you make more money if you diversify."
Police discovered at least 8,000 phony credit cards, but wouldn't say how many driver's licenses or health cards they found. And they have no way of knowing how many of them may already be in circulation.
Hassan Jeeva, a 23-year-old Mississauga resident, is facing a host of forgery and fraud charges.
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