The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 21, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com Two Oakville residents charged with fraud Two Oakville residents are among six GTA residents facing fraud-related charges after they allegedly laundered cash obtained through an elaborate scheme involving two government-guaranteed loans. The RCMP began to investigate after they were told about two suspicious business loans taken out in 2005 and 2006, said Sgt. Marc LaPorte. The accounts, which were administered by the Canada Small Business Financing Program, were set up at a local bank, he said. Under the program, the government guarantees 85 per cent of the loan should the borrower default. However, in order for the customer to access the funds, invoices for expenses must be submitted and the bank then pays the companies involved directly. According to LaPorte, the group started a handful of companies and allegedly generated false invoices totalling about $400,000. After the money was paid out, the borrowers defaulted on the loans. After investigating, the RCMP concluded that the companies were fake, the money was laundered and six people were arrested. The Oakville residents charged were Kymberley Wiliszewski, 41, and Randy Moore, 38. Also charged were Justin Kaufman, 35, of Toronto and his mother, Sharon Kaufman, 60, and sister, Jordana Kaufman, 25, both of Thornhill, along with Peter Bekelis, 32, of Mississauga. They each face charges including fraud over $5,000 and the production of false documents. They are also being charged under the Canada Small Business Financing Act and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. -- Torstar News Service Thieves target smokes at gas bar Halton police are on the lookout for two thieves who stole $3,000 worth of cigarettes from the Canadian Tire gas bar, 630 Forth Line, early Tuesday morning. Police said the incident took place shortly after midnight when two men arrived at the gas bar in a van. Although the gas bar was closed for the night and no employees were present, the suspects' actions were captured by surveillance video. "The culprits used some kind of tool to pry the door lock right off the front door," said Detective Gerard Kelly, Oakville Criminal Investigations Bureau. "They were able to gain entry into the gas bar and they then were able to remove a large amount of cigarettes. It's estimated approximately 600 packets of various brands of cigarettes were taken." The culprits were in and out of the bar in less than five minutes. The gas bar's alarm went off at 12:21 a.m. and police arrived at 12:26 a.m. to find the suspects long gone. Police do not believe this was the first robbery these suspects have undertaken. Kelly noted similarities exist between this robbery and another robbery on New Year's Eve at the Daisy Mart, 1131 Nottinghill Gate. "It was the same sort of thing. The lock was removed from the premises and they stole a large number of cigarettes and some hockey jerseys that were in the store," said Kelly. In that robbery the suspects made off with $57,000 worth of property. Thanks to the surveillance video, police have pieced together the following descriptions. · Suspect one is described as male, wearing a black jacket with a fur lined hood, black gloves and blue pants with vertical strips running down each leg. · Suspect two is described as a white male, with a heavier build, between 30 and 40 years of age, wearing a blue hooded jacket with a horizontal thin strip on the back, as well as black pants with a single white strip running up each leg and black gloves. Each suspect was carrying a plastic garbage can-like container to carry the cigarettes out in. The suspects' van is described as an older style square shaped van, silver in colour with a sliding passenger door. Anyone with information should contact the Oakville Criminal Investigations Bureau at 905 825 4777 ext 2215 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Admissions Assessment Day Saturday, January 24, 2009 9 a.m. ­ 11 a.m. Please call to book an appointment " Because we care... Fern Hill School, an independent co-educational school for students in Preschool to Grade 8, is regarded as one of the pre-eminent elementary schools in Canada. Our learning environment is inviting, well-equipped and offers students an enriched, customized programme. Fern Hill inspires intellectual curiosity, leadership skills and confidence. We welcome you to come visit us and explore the unlimited possibilities available to your child at Fern Hill School. Oakville Campus Preschool - Grade 8 3300 Ninth Line Road, Oakville, ON 905.257.0022 admissions@fernhillschool.com we keep our class sizes small to allow our teachers to engage the students at every level. Conversations in the hallways go beyond school work. Teachers know our students as individuals ­ their ideas, their opinions, their interests and ambitions. www.fernhillschool.com