SASKATOON — RCMP in Saskatchewan say a man has been charged after two fake fundraising efforts for the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team were discovered.
Police say a joint investigation last month with the province's Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority uncovered an alleged investor fraud running under the name Aero Capital Inc.
Investigators also found a GoFundMe page under #PrayForHumboldt had been created to raise money for the Broncos after the team's bus and a transport truck crashed, killing 16 people.
Police say 35 donors — 21 from Canada and 14 from the United States — had contributed about $3,800 to the GoFundMe campaign before it was shut down and they were notified.
Andrij Olesiuk, who is 32, was arrested on Tuesday.
He faces several charges, including fraud under and over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Olesiuk made his first court appearance in Saskatoon provincial court on Wednesday and is scheduled to appear again Dec. 12.
Nearly $15.2 million was raised in a legitimate GoFundMe fundraiser that has since shut down. Efforts are under way to determine how the money is to be divided among the 13 players who were injured and the families of those who died in the April 6 crash.
COMMITTEE CALLS FOR EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF DONATIONS TO HUMBOLDT BRONCOS FAMILIES
A committee working on how to distribute $15.2 million raised in a GoFundMe campaign after the Humboldt Broncos bus crash says a court should respect the families' wishes on how the money should be divided.
The committee is recommending a total payout of $525,000 for each of the 16 families who lost a loved one in the crash.
It is also recommending a total of $475,000 for each of the 13 surviving players.
Court documents say the suggestions are based on a formula that came out of discussions with the families.
In August, a judge approved an interim payment of $50,000 each to the survivors and families of the people who died in April.
The recommendations still need to be approved at a court appearance set for Wednesday.
Committee members included retired Saskatchewan justice Dennis Ball; Mark Chipman, chairman of the company that owns the NHL's Winnipeg Jets; Olympic gold medallist Hayley Wickenheiser; Dr. Peter Spafford, who's in charge of head and neck surgery at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine; and Kevin Cameron, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response.
