" C" Division - News Releases

MONTREAL, February 10, 2006 - On February 2, 2006, a resident of Sauriol Ave. East in Montreal named Odon Mulumba Tchiteya entered a guilty plea to a number of counts of indictment for postal money order fraud exceeding $5,000, personation with intent, possession of a forged passport, and possession and use of a forged drivers licence, health insurance card and other counterfeit documents. The accused will spend the next thirty months behind bars.

A refugee from West Africa, Odon Mulumba Tchiteya purchased series of postal money orders of low dollar value. He then altered the printed amounts and cashed the money orders showing increased values by using several counterfeit identification papers. Acting on his own, Odon Mulumba Tchiteya altered and cashed 838 fraudulent postal money orders totalling $236,370 and used approximately twenty counterfeit identification documents in the process.

The investigation, conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commercial Crime Section in partnership with Canada Post inspectors, was launched in late 2003. Between June 6, 2003, and July 16, 2004, the RCMP seized 1,660 altered postal money orders accounting for losses of nearly $500,000 for Canada Post.

Odon Mulumba Tchiteya is known to the police. He was also under investigation by the RCMP in the early 2000's. On July 13, 2005, he had pleaded guilty to offences committed under sections 123 and 128 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Back in 2000, he had pleaded guilty to using forged documents, including postal money orders. On January 30, 2001, he was sentenced to 8 months in jail on each count of indictment with two years’ probation, was fined $10,660 and prohibited from having postal money orders in his possession.

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Information:

Communications Office
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(514) 939-8308