He allegedly promised them the rights to Tim Horton's franchises. But they didn't even get enough for a cup of coffee. York Regional Police have arrested a Vaughan man in what they call a major cross country fraud ring that may have bilked a large number of people out of huge amounts of money.
Cops say the scam began when classified ads began appearing in local newspapers across the county, offering investors the chance to the distribution rights for Tim's franchises - a deal many thought could be worth millions.
This fraud was well thought out and executed, with respondents being asked to fill out an online application form complete with all their sensitive personal and financial information. But it didn't stop there. Even when the accused fraudster got that valuable data, he supposedly found another way to cheat his marks.
He allegedly call them to a 'franchise' meeting in Richmond Hill and collected $34,000 for the "distributorships." Cops aren't saying how long the scheme was carried out, but it eventually imploded when one of the suspicious investors contacted representatives of the real Tim Horton's on Tuesday - and was stunned to discover they'd never heard of anyone named "Joel Ferrier" and that they never gave him the rights to anything.
Cops made contact with "Ferrier" on Thursday and placed him under arrest. They discovered his name was as phony as his alleged scam. He's really 39-year-old Raphael Kojokaro and he's facing a number of charges.
Police still haven't tallied the entire take from the plan, but call it "substantial." And they're asking anyone else who thinks they may have given money to this man under false pretences to call them at
(905) 773-1221 extension 6612.