The RCMP says a 23-year-old Ottawa man is facing criminal charges for allegedly accessing clients’ banking profiles “for criminal purposes” while working at RBC, including the personal information of Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Ibrahim El-Hakim is charged with fraud over $5,000, unauthorized use of a computer, identity theft and trafficking in identity information, the RCMP confirmed Wednesday.
According to the RCMP, El-Hakim allegedly used RBC’s IT services to access “several” bank profiles without authorization and for “participating in fraud.”
RCMP first learned of El-Hakim’s alleged activities in early July after receiving a complaint from RBC.
El-Hakim was arrested on July 10 and released on a promise to appear with conditions, police said. He appeared in court in Ottawa on Aug. 6, with his next appearance scheduled for Oct. 1.
“Mr. El-Hakim is believed to have accessed, among other things, the personal data of Prime Minister Mark Carney,” the RCMP said.
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“Further charges may be laid against Mr. El-Hakim.”
The investigation has since been assigned to the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET), based in Montreal.
The RCMP’s INSET teams are made up of federal, provincial and municipal agencies and handle investigations into matters of terrorism or national security. They also handle cases involving major public figures, including the prime minister.
“Our investigation did not lead us to believe there was any threat to the Prime Minister’s safety or to national security in this case,” the RCMP added.
“However, as soon as criminal offences target the Canadian Prime Minister, it is the responsibility of our INSET teams to carry out the investigation.”
RBC confirmed in a statement to Global News that El-Hakim was an employee of the bank, but was dismissed due to the allegations.
“While we cannot comment on specifics of matters before the court, we can share that we independently identified unauthorized system access, took immediate action to engage authorities and the individual named is no longer employed at the bank,” a spokesperson said.
“We worked closely with law enforcement to support their investigation.”
The criminal complaint was first reported by La Presse on Wednesday.
More to come…
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