The Camrose Police Service arrested a man and woman from Didsbury on Feb. 15 in connection to alleged mailbox thefts in Olds and other communities throughout the province in recent weeks.
Deputy Chief Lee Foreman said police responded to reports from a Camrose business at roughly 6 p.m. that day about a man and a woman attempting to cash a fraudulent cheque.
Police responded and arrested Kevin Brian Madden, 36, and Crystal Cecilia Shewchuk, 32.
They were allegedly found with documents, equipment and information linking them to mailbox thefts throughout the province in recent weeks, including thefts from six mailboxes on Imperial Drive in Olds on Feb. 9 and at the Olds post office on Feb. 10.
Foreman said police discovered the suspects had stolen an American Express credit card from a mailbox in Olds.
They allegedly phoned the house the card was going to and convinced a teenager living there to divulge his parents' birthdates in order to activate the card.
Police also found in the suspects' possession labelling equipment, rubber stamps for document altering, a laser printer, laptops, bank drafts, identification documents, credit cards, break-in tools and a typewriter.
Besides thefts in Olds, Foreman said, the suspects are linked to alleged mailbox thefts and incidents of fraud in Bonnyville, Camrose, Fort Kent, Fort McMurray, Smoky Lake, Spedden, Lacombe, St. Paul, Dewberry, Glendon and Wataskiwin.
Each suspect is facing nine fraud-related charges including uttering forged documents, forgery, possession of property over $5,000, possession of forgery instruments and possession of credit card data.
Madden is also charged with breaching an undertaking.
The suspects appeared in Camrose provincial court on Feb. 27 and will next appear in court on March 6.
They remain in custody.
