A 23-year-old bank employee was charged for allegedly accessing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s account, police have said.
Ibrahim El-Hakim, an employee at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in Ottawa, has been charged with fraud, unauthorised use of a computer, identity theft and trafficking identity information, police said.
In a statement, RBC said it “independently identified unauthorised system access”, and had “worked closely with law enforcement to support their investigation”.
Mr El-Hakim is no longer working at the bank, RBC added.
Mr El-Hakim was arrested on 10 July, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said, for allegedly using RBC’s IT sevices for “criminal purposes”, including accessing several bank profiles without authorisation. He has since been released under certain conditions.
Police said there was no threat to Carney’s safety or national security.
According to a court affidavit first reported on by Canadian French-language newspaper La Presse, Mr El-Hakim’s alleged actions are thought to be linked to organised crime.
The affidavit, which was not independently verified by the BBC, stated that Mr El-Hakim was in contact with a person on Telegram that paid him money for creating fake bank profiles and getting lines of credit, La Presse reported.
It added that Mr El-Hakim allegedly also accessed former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s account on 17 June.
According to the affidavit reported on by La Presse, Mr El-Hakim was hired at RBC in 2022 and worked at a branch nearby Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
He was allegedly caught on video and confessed in an interview with RBC’s internal security, the affidavit stated.
Mr El-Hakim told them that he had been lured by a person on Telegram, whom police believe is linked to organised crime. That individual paid him a total of C$5,000 ($3,600; £2,675) to access certain banking profiles and obtain lines of credit, the affidavit said.
The suspect is scheduled to appear in court on 1 October in Ottawa, the RCMP said.
By BBC News
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