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North Vancouver mail thief bought BMW with fake credit card

Bought BMW with fake card

A serial fraudster who targeted victims after stealing their mail has a new address – in jail.

Cody Justin Parent, 27, of Surrey, stole mail from three apartment buildings as well as vehicles in North Vancouver and used fake IDs and credit cards to buy a BMW and rack up an $18,000 cellphone bill.

Parent was recently handed a three-year jail sentence by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow after pleading guilty to seven charges, including three counts of break and enter, plus fraud, identity theft and possession of a credit card embosser.

According to an agreed statement of facts submitted to the court, Parent was nabbed after being caught on surveillance cameras breaking into mailboxes at three apartment buildings on June 10 and 11, 2018.

When police searched Parent’s residence at a Surrey recovery house, they found more than 200 pieces of stolen or fraudulent identification including credit cards, cheques, passports, driver’s licences, Nexus cards and a social insurance card, according to the judge’s summary of the case.

Parent bought multiple cellphones and ran up bills on them with a fake credit card and identity documents, resulting in a loss of about $18,000, according to the court.

Parent was also driving a 2006 BMW at the time of his arrest, which he bought with a bogus credit card after stealing another man’s identity, said the judge.

Crown counsel described Parent’s identity thefts as brazen, the judge noted, pointing out Parent’s long criminal record, which includes 27 prior convictions. He was on probation for similar offences at the time he committed his crimes.

Gerow imposed a global sentence of three years in jail, but gave Parent credit for time already served in jail. He will serve another 21 months in custody.



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