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Great local art hanging out at City Hall 1985
2010
Bright, bold works are up for all to see
F RIDAY , A UGUST 13, 2010
32 Pages
Page A18
YOUR SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT abbotsfordtimes.com
Big payout for S.D. axe man
AIRSHOW LANCASTER LOOKER
Leaves with $105,000 SAM COOPER The Province
T
– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
The vintage Avro Lancaster, a Second World War bomber, is reflected in the glasses of Patrick Martin, 18, of Langley, an infantryman in the British army. The Abbotsford International Airshow runs today through Sunday; gates open at 8 a.m., flying begins at 10:45 a.m. daily.
he man who took a hefty axe to Abbotsford school programs has lost his own job – but the blow was softened by a $105,000 payout. Abbotsford School District refuses to explain the sudden departure of district secretary-treasurer Mark Lee after just 10 months on the job. Lee was hired in August 2009 to oversee operations for the school district and handled the job of tackling what the district called one of its toughest budgets in years. First reported @ Lee – former abbotsfordtimes.com director of the MBA program and business school professor at Trinity Western University – had to cut wide and deep after the district learned it faced a $6.1-million deficit for 2010-11. “We are very confident he is the right person to help lead our school district forward,” board chairwoman Cindy Schafer said of Lee after his hiring last year. On June 8, just a week after approving the “challenging” $154-million budget engineered by Lee, the district announced his departure in a terse news release. see LEE, page A4
Thousands of credit cards compromised
CAM TUCKER camtuckertimes@gmail.com
P
olice are urging the public to be vigilant with their credit cards after the discovery of a possible credit card fraud ring operating in Abbotsford. “We live in an information age and we live in a convenience age and everybody wants to do their [bank] transactions electronically,” said Abbotsford Police Department spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald. “The flip side means you have to be diligent in that electronic world with your security, and to diligently monitor the transactions.” Three people have been arrested in two separate incidents connected to the suspected fraud ring. The APD also have an interest
Independent Financial Services 201-2190 West Railway Sreet, Abbotsford, BC V2S 2E2
in an Abbotsford residence that may have housed the operation. Police first found out about the illegal enterprise after a security guard at a local business found a memory storage device that contained stolen credit card information for up to 6,000 cards. The information could be used to manufacture new, fake credit cards. On Sunday, police arrested Ryan Lawrence Robert Plotnikoff in connection with the alleged fraud operation. He appeared in court on Monday to face four charges, including unauthorized use of credit card data. Plotnikoff, a 29-year-old Surrey man, was arrested in downtown Abbotsford after he was pulled over for driving without a licence plate. MacDonald said Plotnikoff also had a suspended driver’s licence, 34 credit cards
Rick Barkwell, FMA
Financial Advisor 604-851-4292 rick.barkwell@raymondjames.ca
Conservative Investment Advice
that did not belong to him, two computer MacDonald estimated that the flash drive monitors determined to be point-of-sale in the second arrest contained data for more monitors, as well as information pertaining than 10,000 credit cards. to “several thousand “Those three incidents credit cards.” are demonstrative that we Another arrest in “Usually there are connections have a group of individuals the case was made between this type of crime and that are either for hire, or in late July when a are part of this ring,” said couple known to organized crime, but we haven’t MacDonald. He added that police were pulled clearly identified that link yet.” it is too early in the investiover in Abbotsford gation to say if this is relatand apprehended on – Const. Ian MacDonald APD ed to organized crime. other charges. “Usually there are conA search of their nections between this type vehicle uncovered numerous devices for of crime and organized crime, but we haven’t manufacturing fraudulent credit cards, clearly identified that link yet,” he said. including two computer monitors, a label - WITH FILES FROM THE VANCOUVER SUN maker and another flash drive.
Need Knows No Season Never before have we seen such a demand on our resources, services and food supply. Would you help us help others by making a donation to The Salvation Army Centre of Hope? Please call 604-852-9305. ®
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