Four charged with defrauding social services

GUELPH – Four Guelph residents face charges of defrauding a provincial social services agency of nearly $93,000.

Late last year, the Guelph Police Service was contacted by investigators from Ontario Works advising a number of Guelph residents had committed fraud by allegedly collecting payments to which they were not entitled.

“Following investigations by the Guelph Police Service Fraud Unit and the provincial agency, four residents were arrested [last] week. The values of the frauds ranged from $5,900 to more than $43,000,” police stated.

Three Guelph women aged 33 to 48 and a 41-year-old Guelph man are each charged with fraud over $5,000. They have all been released with court dates in June. The male and one of the females are spouses, while the other two charges involve unrelated investigations.