Scam courier says he was in the dark about frauds
“I don’t know nothing,” Saleh Abdullah Mohamed, 30, told a judge about his role in bilking Fredericton-area seniors of $78,000
A Montreal man who admits he retrieved thousands in cash from terrified seniors in the Fredericton region last summer told a court he had no idea he was involved in a fraud ring.
Saleh Abdullah Mohamed, 30, of rue Guy in Montreal, had previously pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraud and one of attempted fraud stemming from a “granny scam” that operated in New Brunswick in August.
However, at the time of sentencing earlier this month, he recanted his admission that he was wilfully blind to what was going on, and the matter was set down for trial - which was held Friday and Monday in Fredericton provincial court.
The trial was on seven counts of fraud and one of attempted fraud, as the Crown intends to withdraw the other seven charges.
The facts on how the frauds were perpetrated, victimizing several seniors in and around Fredericton, were stipulated by the Crown and defence, and submitted to the court by way of an agreed statement of facts.
The scam, the document states, involved an elderly victim receiving a call from someone claiming to be their grandchild or nephew.
“In most cases, the ‘grandchild’ or ‘relative’ would advise that they had been arrested; most often, the alleged crime involved drug possession or causing a car accident injuring a pregnant woman,” it states.
“The ‘grandchild/relative’ was calling for help from the complainant to either be released on bail or sentenced for the alleged crime.”
Sometimes, a second person involved in the scheme would impersonate a police officer or justice-system professional, and that person would tell the victim the sum needed to get their loved one sprung from custody.
“The complainant was told not to speak to anyone and sometimes warned of a gag order being in place,” the agreed statement said.
“The complainant was instructed to retrieve the funds the same day and that a courier would be sent to his or her house to collect the envelope.”
Victims were told they’d know the courier from a code word provided, usually “yellow.”
“In almost all cases, the complainants would later contact their relatives to learn that he or she had never been in custody and subsequently reported the matter to police,” it said.
It noted area victims were fleeced for $78,000 in cash on Aug. 24 and 25, and two of them forked over $18,000 each to the fraudsters.
At trial, court heard Mohamed served as the courier sent to the victims’ homes.
Cryptic job offer
The defendant testified he was approached in a Montreal park by Manasseh Kebede - a co-accused in the case who pleaded guilty earlier this month to the frauds and goes by the nickname “MK.”
Kebede had a job offer, and It involved travelling to New Brunswick to retrieve packages or envelopes at various homes, Mohamed said, but he didn’t know what was in the packages or why they were being provided.
“It was my first time, I don’t know nothing,” said the defendant, who has no prior criminal record. “I see brown envelope, that’s it.”
Mohamed said he wasn’t involved in any planning, any phone calls or text messages used to perpetrate the scam, and he only learned of the frauds after he was arrested.
When asked what became of the envelopes of cash, he said, “I give it to MK … I don’t know where he would take it.”
Court heard Mohamed and Kebede stayed in one room at the Fort Nashwaak Motel when they arrived in Fredericton in late August. The room was booked in Mohamed’s name since he had identification, he said, but Kebede paid for it.
After they’d arrived in Fredericton and he’d picked up envelopes, Mohamed said, he became concerned what he was doing wasn’t “a real job” and might be “a bad job.”
“I ask him two or more [times] what was going on. He said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ … I keep my mouth shut,” the defendant testified.
“He would not answer me … I say to myself, ‘There’s something wrong.’”
He said he never received any payment for his role in the scam, but that he was initially told he’d get $1,500.
However, when questioned by RCMP Const. Grant Donovan last summer, Mohamed told him he was going to be paid “1.5,” and when the Mountie asked him if he meant he was going to get 1.5 per cent, Mohamed agreed.
In his testimony Monday, the defendant said he meant $1,500, not a percentage.
“At that time, I was nervous,” he said, referring to the interrogation. “I didn’t know what to say.”
Mohamed also initially told Donovan he only picked up envelopes at two homes, but he acknowledged there were more than that after the officer told him other victims had described him clearly when referring to the courier who picked up cash from them.
Donovan also said in the interview that the notion that Mohamed would leave Montreal with someone who was almost a complete stranger to him and drive to a province he’s never visited before to pick up packages for unknown reasons.
The defendant testified Monday that Kebede told him when he was picking up packages to wear a medical mask over his face, and he wore a knit cap as well.
But he later said he only wore the mask due to COVID-19.
He also admitted Kebede, who’d drive the car, would always look around for other people in the area when he dropped him off for a pickup.
Court heard Mohamed is an Eritrean national born in Saudi Arabia, who emigrated to the United States in 2014 and then to Canada as a refugee in 2019. He now has permanent-resident status.
Issue of wilful blindness
Defence lawyer Ben Reentovich said the case comes down to intent. He admitted Mohamed committed acts in furtherance of the frauds, but that his ignorance of the crimes must be considered as well.
“The question is whether Mr. Mohamed knew he was committing a crime when he was collecting the envelopes,” Reentovich said.
“A lot of his knowledge comes after the fact.”
Someone who is wilfully blind to committing a crime is still guilty under the law, he said, because they intentionally turn a blind eye to what’s going on.
But the fact that Mohamed sensed something was amiss and asked questions about it shows he didn’t make a choice not to know what was happening.
He argued his client’s language barrier was likely a factor in the case, and that allowed the others involved in the fraud ring to use Mohamed as a patsy.
“They set Mr. Mohamed up,” Reentovich said, arguing his client’s actions didn’t meet the definition of wilful blindness.
“He tried his best to understand what he’d gotten himself into … Were his inquiries enough? Did he ask enough questions that he was prepared to face the truth?”
Ultimately, he argued, this is a borderline case when it comes to Mohamed’s intent, and as such, he asked the court to find him not guilty.
But prosecutor Gwynne Hearn said Mohamed’s suspicions after arriving in Fredericton and his decision to ask questions of Kebede show he knew something wasn’t above board about what he was doing, and he chose to abandon his inquiries purposefully to avoid confirming what he suspected - that something illegal was taking place.
“Did Mr. Mohamed take all reasonable steps to determine the truth?” she said.
“He did make the choice to remain ignorant.”
Judge Natalie LeBlanc set over her decision on trial to March 31 to allow the Crown and defence to file further written submissions, and she remanded Mohamed again until that time.
Other suspects
Kebede was meant to stand trial jointly with Mohamed, but on the day it was to begin last week, he pleaded guilty to eight charges - the same eight for which Mohamed stood trial.
He remains in custody pending sentencing, scheduled for April 20.
Kebede testified Friday in Mohamed’s trial, confirming Mohamed was in the dark about the scam and that he didn’t participate in the calls and messages setting up the frauds, only that he picked up the envelopes of cash after giving the victims a code word.
Initially, LeBlanc declined a Crown motion last week to sever Kebede’s and Mohamed’s cases to allow the prosecution to call Kebede as a witness.
But as the trial was to begin Friday morning, the judge reversed her decision and granted the severance, opening the door to Kebede’s testimony.
Police in New Brunswick - including the RCMP and the Fredericton Police Force - issued public alerts about a spike in stances of the granny scam last summer ahead of Mohamed’s and Kebede’s arrests.
The Saint John Police Force also arrested and charged four men, also from Quebec, for allegedly running the same scam last summer.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Willfully blind. Absolutely
Reminds me of the old saying " I was born at night, but it wasn't last night"
Rather hard to imagine
Deportation?