Banker charged after Carney profile breach - RCMP allege
Canadian police have charged a former Royal Bank of Canada employee with fraud and identity theft after he allegedly accessed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s banking profile in a scheme investigators say is tied to organised crime.
According to a police affidavit, the 23-year-old admitted being recruited via Telegram and paid per task. RBC says it detected the unauthorised access, contacted authorities and dismissed the employee.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police have charged Ibrahim El-Hakim, 23, of Ottawa with fraud and identity theft after he allegedly accessed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s banking profile in an organised crime-linked scheme.
According to an RCMP affidavit viewed by Banking Dive, El-Hakim told RBC’s security director in late June that a Telegram user calling themselves “AI WORLD” directed him to create banking profiles, obtain lines of credit and access customer accounts.
El-Hakim, a client adviser at RBC since 2022, was allegedly paid C$500 for each completed request, receiving C$5,000 into accounts at TD and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the affidavit states. RBC’s internal probe links associated credit-card fraud to C$68,500.
Much of the activity was captured on CCTV at the RBC branch near Parliament Hill where El-Hakim worked, investigators said. The RCMP arrested him on 10 July and released him on conditions. He is due in court next week.
“While we cannot comment on specifics of matters before the court, we can share that we independently identified unauthorised system access, took immediate action to engage authorities and the individual named is no longer employed at the bank,” RBC spokesperson Cynthia Brean said in a statement.
Police allege El-Hakim used internal IT systems to access personal information without authorisation and then shared that data.
In addition to fraud and identity theft, he faces charges of unauthorised use of a computer and trafficking in identity information, the RCMP said Wednesday.
The affidavit also cites access to an account belonging to a person named Justin Trudeau. The RCMP confirmed to the CBC that the account did not belong to the former prime minister.
The investigation is ongoing. RBC said it continues to cooperate with law enforcement and emphasised that the individual is no longer with the bank.