Saskatchewan RCMP has charged two Moose Jaw residents with fraud after the duo was caught using fake gift cards in Swift Current.
A Swift Current business contacted RCMP on March 27 about possible fraud after three people used suspicious-looking gift cards.
Upon investigation, RCMP members were able to identify, locate and arrest the three people. Officers also secured a search warrant for a vehicle and hotel room connected to the three individuals and located several gift cards and equipment that likely helped produce the illegitimate cards.
Michael Joel McKechnie, 39, and Nicole Marie Belsher, 37, of Moose Jaw, and Christopher Johnathan Nesvold, 39, of Saskatoon, now face several counts of fraud.
Specifically, McKechnie and Belsher are each facing one count of fraud under $5,000 and one count of using a forged document.
Nesvold has been charged with fraud under $5,000, using a forged document and failing to comply with a release condition.
Police released McKechnie and Belser on conditions and must appear in Swift Current Provincial Court on Wednesday, April 26. RCMP held Nesvold in jail and he later appeared in provincial court on March 29.
This is not the first time that McKechnie and Belser have been in trouble with the law.
On Nov. 30, 2022, the Moose Jaw Police Service blocked off the 1000 block of Stadacona Street West for a lengthy period to arrest Zackery Marckoski, considered dangerous to the public.
Marckoski had failed to return to a correctional centre in Regina in August and had been considered “at large” since then. He was seen in Moose Jaw on Oct. 3 after fleeing police in a vehicle.
The MJPS Tactical Response Team, accompanied by a K-9 officer, executed a warrant to arrest Marckoski, who was later taken into custody.
That operation resulted in police seizing:
- 320 grams of methamphetamine
- 50 grams of cocaine
- 153 grams of fentanyl
- 387 grams of an unknown powder
- $6,835.25 in cash
- Two sawed-off shotguns
- One rifle
- Multiple rounds of ammunition
After further investigations and a subsequent search warrant at the residence, police also charged Jessica Proulx, 21, McKechnie and Belsher, with three counts of possession of a drug for the purpose of trafficking and with numerous weapons and firearms related offences.
All three were released on conditions and were to appear in court later; McKechnie is scheduled for Monday, April 24 and Belsher is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12.
