Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada acknowledged for supporting investigation that led to charges in CAD 5.7 million cyber enabled wage subsidy fraud case

In a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Federal Policing Central Region release, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada was acknowledged for assisting an investigation that resulted in criminal charges against two individuals over a cyber-enabled scheme that fraudulently obtained about CAD 5.7 million from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program. The release says the suspects exploited compromised online credentials belonging to legitimate Canadian businesses to submit unauthorized claims. The joint operation was launched in January 2021 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police International Anticorruption Team and the Canada Revenue Agency Criminal Investigations Division. Investigators found that the scheme used a compromised Represent a Client credential to file applications on behalf of legitimate businesses after unlawful access was obtained to their Canada Revenue Agency My Business Account profiles, with the affected businesses unaware their accounts had been used. Mohammed Ehteshamul Huq and Robert Arthur Otto were each charged with fraud over CAD 5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, possession of identity information for the purpose of committing an indictable offence, and possession of property obtained by crime. They are scheduled to appear in court in Brampton, Ontario, on June 4, 2026.