Police seek potential victims of man who used romance to steal money in B.C.

COQUITLAM, B.C. – Fraud and theft charges have been laid against a 37-year-old British Columbia man accused of swindling money from people he met through online dating sites and dating referral services.

RCMP in Coquitlam say Reza Moeinian engineered romantic relationships in order to steal substantial amounts of cash by convincing people to sign up for credit cards and lines of credit, which he drained.

Cpl. Michael McLaughlin says in a news release that police want to assure potential victims that their identity will never be released.

Mounties say anyone who may have been a victim of romance fraud, especially in Anmore, Belcarra, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, should call police.

Moeinian is accused of using a pseudonym and posing as a foreign businessman.

Along with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of theft over $5,000, he is charged with one count of causing someone to use a forged document.

Police say he is currently in custody and scheduled to make his next court appearance on Monday.

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Howard Alexander

Assistant Editor Howard Alexander comes to iNFOnews.ca from the broadcasting side of the media business.

Howard has been a reporter, news anchor, talk show host and news director, first in Saskatchewan and then the Okanagan.

He moved his family to Vernon in the 90s and is proud to call the Okanagan home.

If you have an event to share contact Howard at 250-309-5343or email halexander@infonews.ca.