B.C. security guard used master key and codes to rob banks of $400,000
Vancouver Canada June 9, 2023 A one-time employee of GardaWorld Security used a master door key, alarm codes and combinations for ATMs issued for his work to steal more than $400,000 from Fraser Valley banks, a new lawsuit filed by the B.C. government alleges.
Christopher Eldred-Ascolese and his wife Tianna Della Rosa then used the cash to invest in two Nanaimo properties, over 300 comic books, several vehicles and 70 firearms, according to a statement of claim filed this week by the director of civil forfeiture.
Neither Eldred-Ascolese nor Della Rosa have been charged criminally, Crown spokesman Dan McLaughlin said Thursday.
But the director of civil forfeiture wants the two properties, as well as almost $280,000 seized from their Nanaimo home in March, to be forfeited to the B.C. government as proceeds of criminal activity.
The lawsuit naming the couple was filed June 5. No statement of defence has yet been entered in the case.
The director says that in July 2021, Eldred-Ascolese and Della Rosa “were suspected to be involved in the break and enter of a number of banks and subsequent thefts from various ATMs located therein in the Chilliwack and Hope areas.”
“In total, approximately $398,520 Canadian and $11,820 U.S. was stolen. The break and enters and theft were committed using master door key, alarm codes, and ATM combinations issued to GardaWorld,” the director said in his statement of claim.
The court document also says that between Sept. 30, 2021 and last Christmas Eve, the spouses deposited over $359,000 in cash into their bank accounts in a series of transactions.
Some of the deposited cash was then used to obtain bank drafts to buy a 2018 Ford F150 truck, a 2022 Hyundai Tucson and a 2019 Harley Davidson motorcycle also being targeted by the lawsuit.
“At all material times, the source of the funds was not lawfully obtained income,” the lawsuit alleges. “Eldred-Ascolese and T. Della Rosa used the funds to purchase, acquire and maintain the real property, vehicles, comic books, money, and 70 firearms, a number of which were high-value.”
In April 2021, the couple purchased a property on Roberta Road in south Nanaimo for $499,000, the lawsuit says.
Then on March 3, 2023, they bought an acreage on Barnes Road in Nanaimo for $840,000 and moved in, the director said.
Just five days later, Chilliwack RCMP executed a search warrant at the property in connection with their investigation and seized the cash, located inside a safe, “the comic books, the Harley, two cell phones, a money-counting machine, the firearms, some of which no longer bore serial numbers, ammunition, magazines, a gun stock, and other firearms parts.”
Police also seized several computers, bank statements and tax documents.
The two properties — which have mortgages on them — the vehicles, comics and cash “are proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity,” the director alleges, citing crimes including careless storage of a firearm and ammunition, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm together with readily accessible ammunition, theft and breaking and entering, possession of the proceeds of crime and money laundering.
Chilliwack RCMP did not respond to a request for comment Thursday about the investigation.
In March 2023, the detachment issued a news release seeking the public’s help in identifying a mystery woman suspected of robbing ATMs in July 2021 while posing as a cleaner.
“Surveillance video captured the female suspect wearing a bright blue collared shirt, dark pants, a medical style mask, latex gloves and a dark coloured ball cap,” said Sgt. Krista Vrolyk.
She said local investigators worked with Fintrac which led to the recent execution of a search warrant at a residence in Nanaimo on Barnes Road.
“This search warrant resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of cash and several high value assets believed to be purchased through the proceeds of crime,” Vrolyk said.
