B.C. security guard used master key and codes to rob banks of $400,000: government lawsuit
The man and his wife then used the cash to invest in two Nanaimo properties, over 300 comic books, several vehicles and 70 firearms
by Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun
Jun 08, 2023
Facebook selfie of Chris Eldred-Ascolese, who along with his social worker wife Tianna Della Rosa allegedly used the cash to invest in two Nanaimo properties, over 300 comic books, several vehicles and 70 firearms, according to a statement of claim filed this week by the director of civil forfeiture.
A one-time employee of GardaWorld Security used a master door key, alarm codes and combinations for ATMs issued for his work to steal more than $400,000 from Fraser Valley banks, a new lawsuit filed by the B.C. government alleges.
Christopher Eldred-Ascolese and his wife
Tianna Della Rosa then used the cash to invest in two Nanaimo properties, over 300 comic books, several vehicles and 70 firearms, according to a statement of claim filed this week by the director of civil forfeiture.
Neither Eldred-Ascolese nor Della Rosa have been charged criminally, Crown spokesman Dan McLaughlin said Thursday.
But the director of civil forfeiture wants the two properties, as well as almost $280,000 seized from their Nanaimo home in March, to be forfeited to the B.C. government as proceeds of criminal activity.
The lawsuit naming the couple was filed June 5. No statement of defence has yet been entered in the case.
The director says that in July 2021, Eldred-Ascolese and Della Rosa “were suspected to be involved in the break and enter of a number of banks and subsequent thefts from various ATMs located therein in the Chilliwack and Hope areas.”
“In total, approximately $398,520 Canadian and $11,820 U.S. was stolen. The break and enters and theft were committed using master door key, alarm codes, and ATM combinations issued to GardaWorld,” the director said in his statement of claim.
Surveillance video captured the female suspect wearing a bright blue collared shirt, dark pants, a medical style mask, latex gloves and a dark coloured ball cap after a series of ATM thefts in 2021.
In April 2021, the couple purchased a property on Roberta Road in south Nanaimo for $499,000, the lawsuit says.
Then on March 3, 2023, they bought an acreage on Barnes Road in Nanaimo for $840,000 and moved in, the director said.
Chilliwack RCMP issued a news release seeking the public’s help in identifying a mystery woman suspected of robbing ATMs in July 2021 while posing as a cleaner.
Just five days later, Chilliwack RCMP executed a search warrant at the property in connection with their investigation and seized the cash, located inside a safe, “the comic books, the Harley, two cell phones, a money-counting machine, the firearms, some of which no longer bore serial numbers, ammunition, magazines, a gun stock, and other firearms parts.”
Local investigators worked with Fintrac which led to the recent execution of a search warrant at a residence in Nanaimo on Barnes Road.
Edited by pontcanna, 09 June 2023 - 02:03 AM.