Halifax landlord racks up 50 fraud charges
A 27-year-old man from Bedford is facing more than 50 fraud charges in a large rental fraud investigation that targets students, according to police.
Officers said Cyrano Carette sucked-in unsuspecting university students with properties on Robie and Cedar streets just blocks away from Dalhousie University.
On Friday police announced 31 new charges against him, in addition to a list of fraud and theft charges they laid against him last summer.
They said they've been investigating the scams since April 2012.
"People would look for rental accommodations online, it's not an uncommon practice nowadays. They would respond to the ad and be given a viewing of the apartment and once there if they were satisfied with the location they were asked to pay a damage deposit and sign a lease. They were given receipts, signed documents and led to believe they would take occupancy at a future date," said Det. Cst. Dana Drover.
The problem is, police said Carette rented the same apartments to at least 30 people. They allege Carette made off with $10,000 running the scam.
Drover said, to his knowledge, none of the money has been recovered.
Police allege he was also running rental fraud in buildings the city had declared unfit for human habitation. He no longer owns these properties.
Carette is due back in court in February.
