Duo posing as Telus clients scam over $700,000 worth of iPhones: Lawsuit

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Two Surrey residents are being sued by Telus Communications for allegedly posing as management of a company to fraudulently place an order for $704,000 worth of iPhones.

According to court documents filed on November 28, Sidhu was a former employee of Olympia Transportation Ltd., a client of Telus.

On January 16, 2018, Sidhu and Multani met with two representatives from Telus at a warehouse in Surrey.

The men told the Telus reps that the warehouse was Olympia’s new business address. During the meeting, Sidhu impersonated Baljinder Sandhu, a director of Olympia and Multai impersonated Amar Gill, Olympia’s operations manager.

“The Telus representatives reasonably relied on Sidhu and Multani’s representations to their identities, and understood that they were meeting with representatives of Olympia,” stated the civil claim.

Sidhu and Multani convinced the Telus representatives that they were authorized to place a large order of smartphones on behalf of Olympia and ordered 450 Apple iPhone 8s and SIM cards.

Because Olympia is a “long-standing and well-established client” Telus did not require a down-payment for the purchase.

The phones were delivered in April but Sidhu said the wrong order was sent because he and Multani had asked for iPhone 10s. The new order was processed and was delivered on May 25. The total value of the phones was $704,250.

“In the weeks that followed the delivery, Sidhu and Multani repeatedly contacted the Telus representatives in an effort to obtain further discounts on the wrongfully obtained devices,” states the claim.

On July 5, Telus attempted to contact Olympia and collect the invoice. On August 1, Amar Gill — the Olympia Operations Manager who Multani impersonated — told Telus that Olympia never placed the order.

The Telus representatives who arranged the deal met with the real Amar Gill in person and realized that the man they met before was lying. They came to know that the real Baljinder Sandhu — who Sidhu impersonated — was a woman.

Telus confirmed that Sidhu and Multani had falsely claimed to be Olympia management. The phones, which the men claimed were for company use — were being sold on various online sites, including Facebook Marketplace.

In one case, a Telus employee ended up purchasing one of the fraudulent iPhones on Facebook marketplace and activating it on the Telus network.

“Sidhu and Multani are liable to Telus for conspiracy, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, deceit, unjust enrichment, conversion breach of contract and debt,” says the claim.

Telus says it is entitled to “punitive and exemplary damages and special costs from the defendants.”

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