Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 14/05) - A man wanted since May on fraud-related charges is accused of using a stolen credit card in the week before he was arrested in late November.

Shawn Bennett, 38, was arrested Nov. 28 - nearly seven months after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

He was wanted on 28 counts of credit card fraud, 12 counts of fraud and a smattering of other charges. Many of those charges were laid since May and before he appeared in court Tuesday. The total number of charges reached 50.

During the hearing, Crown prosecutor John MacFarlane dropped five charges against Bennett and combined the credit card fraud allegations into a single count.

He was remanded to be held in custody until his next court appearance.

Among the charges, Bennett is accused of using forged cheques to defraud Ditab Enterprises, an accounting firm, of more than $27,000 from Feb. 7-23. The company has ties to tax giant H&R Block.

Bennett is also charged with defrauding the Yellowknife-based Gold Range Investments of just over $2,000.

He was also accused of using a stolen credit card 28 times in the week before his Nov. 28 arrest.

Bennett was charged that same day with failing to carry his driver's licence and driving without insurance.

Bennett is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 4, where he is expected to plead to the remaining charges.