Canadian Counterfeit Postage Operation Stamped Out

The Montreal Gazette reports thousands of counterfeit stamps have been seized in the largest postage fraud bust in two decades.

According to an article by Bradley Bouzane of Postmedia News, "Two people were arrested in Montreal Tuesday after police searched two dozen businesses in that city. Those arrests are linked to three previous arrests in Montreal and Toronto that have led to the seizure of more than 40,000 phoney stamps and about 10,000 authentic stamps that were set for reuse. Charges were also laid Tuesday in connection to the earlier arrests."

Canada Post spokeswoman Genevieve Latour is quoted in the piece as saying,  "...Canada Post officials allowed the fake and reused stamps to go through the system for the benefit of the investigation, which was launched in May 2010."  Postage fraud of this scale is not common, Latour said, adding the last major bust took place about 20 years ago.

The counterfeit stamps feature images of the Queen, Canadian lighthouses (similiar to those shown above) and stamps with themes from the Vancouver Olympics.

Canada Post estimates it lost about $2.6 million in revenue.

To read the entire article, click here.