06-05-2025
Butcher shops not pleased to meat fraudster who left them chewing on bad cheques
A group of Winnipeg-area butcher shops allege they've been bilked out of thousands of dollars by a fraudster who posed as a restaurant owner and paid for large amounts of meat with bad cheques.
Police confirmed they've launched an investigation into the spree of apparent frauds, which may have targeted up to 10 different stores over the span of several months.
The allegations came to light Tuesday when Frig's Natural Meats & More issued a news release identifying the suspect and warning other businesses not to deal with him. The Free Press is not naming the accused because he has not been criminally charged.
BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS
Michelle Mansell, manager of West St. Paul butcher shop Frig's Natural Meats & More, says they sold $2,700 worth of choice cuts of meat like rib eye and New York steaks to a man that wrote two cheques that later bounced.
'There's part of me that is so pissed off at myself for allowing this to happen to us and allowing this guy to come into our store and write a cheque. What was I thinking? But then, I seriously — I trusted him,' said Michelle Mansell, manager of the West St. Paul butcher shop.
'As far as I was concerned, he was a guy who was getting his business going… and I wanted to help him.'
Mansell said the suspect seemed to be 'quite in a panic' when he called her store on April 17 and asked the butcher to fulfil a last-minute order.
'He said that he owned two restaurants and he had some big catering events going on that weekend and his supplier had shorted him, and he really needed to get his hands on some more meat,' she said.
The suspect showed up within an hour, carrying a manilla envelope filled with what Mansell believes were forged order sheets and other documents.
'It all looked very legitimate… he basically showed me his business number, the orders that he has to fill, what his supplier gave him and what he was shorted. It was all very well thought out,' she said.
He left with about $1,700 worth of product — primarily choice cuts of meat like rib eye and New York steaks. Two days later, the man returned for another order and wrote a second cheque for approximately $1,000. Both cheques later bounced, Mansell said.
The amount of product taken from Frig's was equivalent to about two days worth of sales, she said.
Mansell called many of her competitors in the meat industry to warn them about what happened. She connected with 10 businesses that suffered similar losses, but none had filed police reports, she said.
'I died a little inside with every person telling me they already knew,' she said. 'It was heartbreaking, to be honest. It kind of squashes your faith in humanity.'
She compiled information from other affected butchers and urged them to file police reports before she did so herself.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Melanie Roussel confirmed officers from the Red River North detachment received her complaint on April 22 and launched an investigation.
While no other reports have been received within the Mounties' jurisdiction, investigators believe 'there may be multiple businesses within the city that were affected,' Roussel said in an email statement.
The Winnipeg Police Service said it is investigating similar fraud reports from at least three other meat suppliers, including Pratts Wholesale Ltd., Central Products & Foods Ltd. and C & G Meat Depot.
Other businesses may be linked to the investigation, but police cannot provide further information while that process is ongoing, spokesperson Ally Cox said via email.
Christine Glover, who works for C & G, said the company lost about $730 worth of product on Feb. 14 after receiving a bad cheque.
Glover recognized the suspect as a client who had previously ordered meat from the business and paid without issue. Multiple attempts to reach the man went unanswered, she said.
Rob Bayles, manager at European Meats, said he avoided being duped by a scammer who showed up at the Burrows Avenue store on March 21 and ordered about $955 worth of meat.
The suspect had been popping into the butcher store periodically for more than a month to inquire about wholesale prices. He told staff he worked at Silver Heights Restaurant, Bayles said.
The man sent Bayles a screenshot of an e-transfer payment in the amount of the order, but the money wasn't received and the butcher refused to turn over the meat, he said.
Tony Siwicki, owner of Silver Heights Restaurant and chairman of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, confirmed the alleged fraudster was a former employee at his Portage Avenue eatery.
The man worked there for at least five years. When he left, he said he was going to help his sister open Kalan Restaurant and Catering Services on Arlington Street, Siwicki said.
Siwicki described him as a 'great guy' and hard worker who sometimes filled in as a chef when needed.
'It was a big loss when he left,' he said.
Lee, the owner of Kalan Restaurant and the suspect's brother-in-law, said the man worked there between August and December last year.
Lee, who asked that his last name not be published, said he has not spoken with the suspect in months and the man is not associated with his restaurant. As early as January, Lee's meat suppliers began raising alarms that the suspect had been ordering from them while claiming to still work for Kalan, he said.
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'It's heartbreaking to hear about these stories,' Lee said. 'I told them to report it to police.'
Lee said the man suffers from bipolar disorder and his family is concerned about his behaviour. As he spoke, a woman Lee identified as his wife (the suspect's sister) was heard sobbing in the background.
'He really needs some professional help,' Lee said.
The Manitoba Court registry shows the man was named in seven small claims lawsuits, including one from Pratt's, between Jan. 10 and March 19.
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press 's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune , Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press 's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press 's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
