Mother, daughter, charged in bust of prolific Vancouver Island fraud ring

VICTORIA – A Vancouver Island mother and daughter have been arrested and police say charges against the pair could disrupt a prolific fraud ring operating on the Island for more than a year.

The women were arrested following a joint probe by Victoria Police and the RCMP’s Organized Crime Financial Integrity team.

Officers moved in after uncovering hundreds of individual credit card frauds carried out by a four-person ring between January 2011 and March of last year.

Victims were located across Vancouver Island, and police say, in some cases, the frauds had never been reported and each case required extensive sleuthing with banks, merchants and other agencies.

Sixty-three-year-old Karen Mauro faces 18 counts, including nine of fraud under $5,000, while her 46-year-old daughter Christine Mauro is charged with nine counts, including six for fraud.

The women have appeared before a judge in Victoria and remain under house arrest while awaiting further court dates.

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