A 31-year-old North Vancouver man has been charged with fraud for allegedly placing phony home rental ads on Craigslist.

Vancouver police arrested Edward Frank Hamilton on May 22 as he left the Provincial Court in Richmond and charged him with five counts of fraud.

He appeared in Vancouver Provincial Court and was released. Police have seized his cellphone.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said the suspect is alleged to have placed Internet ads on Craigslist, a free online classified service, offering to rent apartments or suites in Vancouver, where home rental space is at a premium.

He would take deposits from the prospective renters and give them keys to suites which didn’t exist, Fanning said.

The frauds date back to the beginning of the year, said Fanning, when a woman living in Red Deer who was moving to the Vancouver area allegedly sent Hamilton a $725 cheque for what she believed was the rental of part of a home, only to find when she arrived that the address he’d given was an apartment block.

Police allege four other victims turned over amounts ranging from about $160 to $300 to Hamilton for suites after he met them in fast-food restaurants and gave them keys.

Fanning said the suites didn’t exist.

by Gerry Bellett | Vancouver Sun