A voluminous amount of disclosure has led to a temporary adjournment in the case of a Red Deer man facing more than two dozen fraud charges.
Lesley Jerry Billett, 45, reserved his plea on 26 fraud-related charges and a new charge of theft under $5,000, through his lawyer Will Willms in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday.
Willms told court he needs time to digest the amount of disclosure, which has just been made available by the Crown. The case was adjourned until May 11.
Billett was arrested and charged on April 5 when RCMP executed a search warrant following a lengthy investigation.
He faces 17 charges of fraud valued at more than $5,000 each, five counts of fraud valued at less than $5,000 each, one count of fraudulent use of a credit card and three counts of uttering a forged document.
The new theft charge involves a licence plate, court heard.
Police said earlier the accused allegedly defrauded victims, in Alberta, British Columbia and the United States, of more than $140,000.
Police alleged earlier a man offered shredding equipment for sale to victims as part of his company.
It’s alleged the victims provided money to the accused as either deposits or as the purchase price for equipment that was never delivered.
The accused is also alleged to have used the credit card information of one victim to make local purchases.
It’s also alleged the accused forged documents to solicit funding for a business venture.