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Here’s a pie in your eye!
Black Diamond mayor Rolly Magee gets a cream pie in the face during a cancer fund-raiser pie toss held during Diamond Valley/Discovery Days on June 2. Check out page 10 for more of the day’s events.
photo by Gillian Beckett
Calgary Police and RCMP uncover pyramid scheme, one Okotoks resident is arrested
By Cindy Ballance
Editor
One Okotoks resident and three others from Calgary have been arrested after Calgary Police uncovered a pyramid scam know as 'Circle of Friends.'
After receiving numerous tips from the public, the Calgary Police Service Commercial Crime Section and the RCMP were able to infiltrate secretive meetings of the group and made four arrests.
Andrea Northam, 25, Marlise Vittur, 22, and Lori Deane, 40 all of Calgary and Dena Liebrecht, 30, of Okotoks have been charged with operating an unlawful money increment scheme and operating a pyramid scheme.
They will enter their plea today (Wednesday) in Calgary.
According to Cst. Barbara Smail of the RCMP Commercial Crime Section, RCMP became aware of a group originating in Okotoks which lead to the Circle of Friends group.
Smail added that since the first group of citizens was charged and convicted in Calgary, it opened the floodgates to calls of other similar scams in the area.
'Once that happened the phone calls (to the RCMP) picked up,' said the constable.
Through numerous public tips and tips through Crime Stoppers, RCMP were able to determine which meetings they would be able to attend undetected.
Undercover operators with the police were able to identify the pyramid schemes after attending the secretive meetings where the suspects would stand and tell attendees how much money they needed to join the circle.
'They would talk about how (the money) is not taxable because they are actually giving a gift, which is not true,' said Smail.
Those in attendance were then told how to obtain the $5,000 needed to join through various means such as taking out a loan or borrowing the money from family.
Then, Smail explained, actual pyramids were drawn on a board telling people how the pyramid works. They were then given the name of a person to meet at an undisclosed place to hand over the cash.
She explained that people are promised that they will quickly move up on the pyramid and once they reach the top they will collect $40,000.
The pyramid scams are solely dependent on recruitment, said Smail, and normally they fall apart before the person on the bottom can reach the top.
'It doesn’t work. It is dependent on recruitment and if they can’t recruit enough people eventually it will die off,' said Smail. 'It is an illegal game.'
'It usually is a victimless crime. The people at the bottom who give the money also could be charged for participating,' she added.
'It is illegal because it falls under the gaming section of the criminal code. The way (the pyramid works) it can’t work the way it is presented.'
Normally, Smail added, people who participate in these types of scams are in desperate need of money to pay off a debt or they want to help someone else out. 'There is usually a lot of greed,' she said.
Smail explained that there are quite a number of pyramids schemes under way not only in Calgary, but the surrounding communities as well under various names such as the Perpetual Money Tree, the Wine Club and the Muffin Club.
'There are a lot of these pyramids going on for sure,' she explained. 'We have had complaints from every single small town outside of the city.'
Although each scheme may come under a different name, residents will quickly recognize it is a scam. 'You will know instantly,' she said.
Failure to declare income from a pyramid scheme could also result in tax evasion charges and prosecution by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA).
However, individuals who have not filed returns for previous years or who have not reported all their income, can still voluntarily correct their tax affairs.
The CCRA will not penalize or prosecute if full disclosure is made before the agency starts any action of investigation.
Rain does little to help water situation
By Cindy BallanceEditor
Three days of rain came as a godsend to many local residents and farmers after recent news that the weather situation was dire.
Last week it was reported that abnormally dry conditions and little spring run-off had caused the Sheep River to be below required instream flow objectives.
Therefore, the Town of Okotoks, along with other Foothills municipalities, had instituted outdoor watering restrictions.
As of last Friday, the town pumped 1.7 million gallons of water, Saturday was 1.65 million gallons and Sunday was 1.8 million gallons. Quail predicted that the town would pump 1.2 to 1.3 million gallons on Monday.
'As a result of the lovely rainfall the consumption demand was down to 1.2 to 1.3 (million gallons on Monday),' said Richard Quail, infrastructure services manager for the town.
Although the rain has helped to alleviate the dry conditions somewhat and assisted the town in lowering its consumption demands, the precipitation is not nearly enough.
'Don’t think for a moment that because we had a little bit of rain we are out of the woods —we are deep in the woods,' said Quail.
The precipitation helped to moisten the ground somewhat, however, it did not raise the water table. 'We need some sustained rain to see a change in the water table,' said Quail.
Kevin Wilkinson, senior water officer with Alberta Environment, said that although the river flows increased between midnight and 6 am on Sunday, they began to drop again Monday.
'Whatever moisture we got was probably taken up by the soil,' he said.
Wilkinson said depending on precipitation, flows and the water situation could change hourly and daily.
'In the river at Okotoks the flows have been meeting instream objectives as of Thursday (May 31), however, the upstream Sheep River at Black Diamond was not meeting the instream objectives,' said Wilkinson on Friday.
Despite the rain, he added that water conservation methods remain as important as before.
'Wise use and conservation (of water) is something people should practice every day not just when water levels are low,' said Wilkinson.
Alberta Environment is currently working on the creation of a website which will list flow information on various rivers and how its relates to instream objectives. It is expected that the website will be up and running by mid-June and will be updated hourly in most cases.
Watering guidelines
Residents have been asked to reduce their outdoor water use by following the odd/even numbering system. If the last number on your address is even, residents can water on Wednesday and Saturday, if it is odd they can water on Thursday and Sunday. Residents can only water between the hours of 6 am and 9 am and 8 pm and midnight.
Watering during the day is not effective use of water as it evaporates quickly and doesn’t penetrate into the soil. As well, residents only need to water two to three centimetres every seven to 10 days. Two to three centimetres represents about one hour of watering.
Other wise water tips are available through the WaterSmart hotline at 938-8905. Penalties have also been implemented should residents choose not to obey the watering restriction. Fines range from $100 to $2,500.
The watering restriction will remain in effect until Oct. 1 unless there is substancial rain to increase river flows.
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