Durham Police yesterday said a male has been arrested after fraudulently claiming the deceased exotic animals for his taxidermist business were no longer viable due to a faulty refrigeration system.
On September 11, 2023, investigators with the DRPS Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) were contacted by an insurance company regarding multiple claims filed by a taxidermy company, that they believed to be fraudulent.
The owner of the business purchased deceased exotic animals such as tigers, lions and monkeys, after they died of natural causes, for use as art pieces, said a police statement.
In May of 2022, the owner made a claim to the insurance company for a weather-related failure of his refrigeration system, which he claimed resulted in a financial loss of over $500,000 of animals.
In June of 2023, the owner made a second claim to the insurance company for another refrigeration system failure, which he claimed resulted in a financial loss of over $700,000 of animals.
Investigation into zoos, ranches, and safaris both in Canada and in Africa, named by the suspect, revealed that the suspect had fraudulently produced purchase invoices, created fictitious zoos and safaris, and inflated the value of the deceased animals, police said.
The suspect, age 65 from Uxbridge was charged and released on an undertaking. Name and further details available at www.drps.ca.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact D/Cst. Tisi of the Financial Crimes Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5729.
Editor’s Note: Durham Post does not name or identify the accused as:
1. Of this time, they are suspect[s] and not convicted by a court, and
2. Sometimes charges are amended or dropped.
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