Eight people from Ottawa, Gatineau and Montreal are facing charges in a high-level cyber fraud that targeted the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program in 2020.
RCMP began the investigation in August 2020, following the release of millions of dollars to Canadians from the program intended to support people during the COVID-19 pandemic, handed out by the Canada Revenue Agency.
The International Anti-Corruption Team and Cybercrime Investigative Team launched a joint investigation after a cyber attack on the CRA’s online portal.
What Mounties discovered was a “sophisticated fraud scheme” that involved networks of people working together to steal the personal identities of Canadians to access their CRA accounts and claim CERB benefits.
Police explained in the press release that these types of cases are often “complex” for law enforcement.
“These crimes often transcend borders and require specialized investigative approaches to identify those responsible and disrupt their operations,” Inspector Guy Michel Nkili, RCMP Central Region International Anti-Corruption Team, said.
Through the years-long investigations, police found that suspects gained access to the accounts by altering banking information and redirecting payments into fraudulent accounts under their control. RCMP believe that a total of $364,000 was taken by scammers from the Government of Canada.
Harry Gill, Assistant Commissioner and Agency Security Officer of the CRA’s Security Branch, said the agency has a zero tolerance for cyber fraud that targets government programs.
“We work closely with law enforcement and our partners to detect, disrupt, and respond to threats to our systems, and we will continue to take decisive action to protect taxpayer information and public funds,” he said in a statement. “Fraud against government is not victimless, and those who attempt to exploit these programs will be held accountable.”
As a result of the investigation, eight people are facing charges:
All face the charge of fraud over $5,000, with several others facing the offence of possession of identity information with intent to commit an indictable offence.
The government agency says as of December 2025, it is owed more than $10.35 billion in COVID-19 benefits.
As of late last year, the agency disbursed $83.5 billion in benefits to Canadians, including $45.3 billion for CERB. The CRA began sending recovery letters to individuals with debts related to the benefits in 2023, which arose from overpayments or from people who received benefits who were not eligible.
“Emergency benefits needed to be delivered extremely quickly to millions of Canadians, leading to an attestation-based application process beginning with the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB),” Nina Ioussoupova, a spokesperson for the agency, previously said. “Individuals were required to confirm they met the program eligibility criteria and were made aware that the CRA might verify this information at a later date.”
With files from Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press.
