The Green Zone: Riders' Jeremy O'Day preparing for 2025
1h ago
O'Day discusses Trevor Harris and changes to be made to get the Riders back to the Grey Cup.
A couple passing through Saskatchewan around Christmas is facing a total of 74 charges, mostly involving fraud and theft.
It all started at a hotel in White Bear, north of Swift Current, on Dec. 18, 2018.
According to RCMP, the pair walked in asking for free food and board, claiming they didn’t have any identification or money.
The odd request prompted hotel owner Provas Das to call Mounties and to get one of his employees to take a picture of the couple’s license plate.
“I had a suspicion when they said they are from Ontario and are tourists, yet the car they were driving was registered in Saskatchewan,” Das said in an interview on Friday.
“When the police came, I sent the police with my friend. That’s when they realized the car was stolen.”
Once RCMP investigated the vehicle, they discovered it was stolen from Wapella.
Mounties are still processing more than 200 pieces of evidence from inside the car.
Regina police are also now investigating to see if the same duo is connected to a number of recent cases of identity fraud, theft and fraudulent vehicle purchases in the city.
In addition to the 74 combined offences the couple now faces in Saskatchewan, they also face 165 charges in central and northeastern Ontario, involving dangerous driving, fraud and possession of stolen property, among others.
RCMP believe there may be more incidents across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario that haven’t yet been linked to the pair.
Looking back a couple months later, Das said he’s thankful he chose to call police.
“I think they thought they were going to hide in a small place, but (in White Bear) when new people come, everyone wants to know who they are,” he said, adding he still can’t believe something of this nature happened in the hamlet of about a dozen people.
“People around here are very nice. I’ve never had any problems.”
Dustin Purvis, 37, and Katelyn Jane Koury, 33, will appear in Swift Current provincial court on Feb. 13.
— With files from 980 CJME’s Evan Radford