Quebecers are losing thousands of dollars to a shady container company that collects deposits but doesn’t deliver.
Boucher Conteneur presents a professional website as well as a Facebook page that allows you to buy containers… that never arrive.
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“I sent a deposit of $1,700, then it started to feel like a scam when it was explained to me that I didn’t receive the container I ordered because of a delivery problem,” explains François Pelletier, a carpenter from Sorel-Tracy.
Mr. Pelletier had never seen the color of the container ordered at the beginning of last September. “Nobody wants to lose $1,700,” says a man who needed to store equipment after a tornado ravaged his industrial warehouse last August.
The police could not accept his complaint.
François Pelletier, owner of Ébénisterie François Pelletier, in front of his workshop devastated by the August 3 tornado.
Photo by PIERRE-PAUL POULIN
A similar scenario for Rick Hamalian, who wanted to store equipment for his dance studio in Saint-Jérôme. “I lost $2,500,” he laments. When he ran out of strength, he did not want to file a complaint with the authorities.
Both communicated with an individual under the name “Stéphane Boucher”.
Representative News he went to one of the addresses this Mr. Boucher provided to his clients. The resident of the residence had nothing to do with the company involved in the sale of containers.
Transfers sent by intermediaries
The two sent “deposits” via Interac wire to a bank account belonging to Marie-Ève Laliberté of Montreal’s North Shore. Contacted by user Dailyshe was shocked to discover that the company she thought she worked for was not supplying the containers.
“I thought I was helping society by helping myself, not by committing fraud,” complains a woman who contacted the Facebook page “La Cité Financière”, which promises loans with an interest rate of 3%.
“You had to pay $600 to open an account and get a loan,” explains M.me Laliberte. Since I couldn’t pay it, I was offered this job. She assured that she had never met this employer in person.
Marie-Ève Laliberté did not know that the company she worked for did not deliver goods.
Photo taken from MARIE-ÈVE LALIBERTÉ’s Facebook page
Mme Therefore, Laliberté collected transfers sent by Boucher Conteneur customers and then transferred them to email addresses through cryptocurrency buying, selling and exchange platforms such as Shakepay and Coinbase.
She credited herself with 10% of the amounts received.
A catch that repeats itself
Cory Skinner, a programmer and entrepreneur from Ontario, fell victim to a similar scam last summer. He wanted to buy a container from Bels Conteneurs to build a garage for his cottage.
“I lost about $6,000,” he laments. Documents obtained Daily to prove that Bels Conteneurs also used a bank account in the name of Marie-Ève Laliberté to withdraw the amount sent by Mr. Skinner.
The company representative who handled this sale introduced himself as Éric Desjardins. When Daily he dialed the phone number listed in his electronic signature, it was a man named Luc-André Matte who answered via text message. He explained that Éric Desjardins and Stéphane Boucher “work” for him.
He claimed to be behind the Facebook page “La Vie Financière”, which claims to be able to provide financial loans, as well as Boucher Conteneur. He later denied the claims at the switchboard after exchanging text messages. He then refused to answer our questions.
If the police were unable to accept Mr. Pelletier’s complaint, officers from both the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police assured Cory Skinner that they were looking into it. “fraud”. According to the documents he obtained DailyThe RCMP suspect this scam “may have an international basis.”
“I’ve also been told that the Quebec police are investigating,” Mr. Skinner added.
Photo taken from the Facebook page of BOUCHER CONTENEUR
There are many fake container companies on social media and the internet, especially since the pandemic.
