Man nearly scams oil firms out of millions but ... He is Canadian

By Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
CALGARY - A man has been charged with trying to bilk oil and natural gas firms out of millions of dollars in bogus environmental fees.
Investigators allege a company calling itself Alberta Environmental Registry sent out false invoices last month that requested payment of environmental compliance fees.
The invoices ranged from $400,000 to $3.3 million and were based on the number of wells owned and operated by each company.
"It looked pretty sophisticated and it is alleged he did have knowledge of the oil and gas industry so that these invoices (were) very believable," said Const. Tanya Bertulli of the Calgary Police Service economic crimes unit.
"A lot of these companies were very smart to pick it up. We believe had the amounts been smaller, that they would have just paid out."
John Edward Wilson of Calgary is charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000. Police say further charges are possible.

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