Businessman to stand trial on fraud charges

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on August 18, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge businessman who pleaded not guilty in May to more than a dozen fraud-related charges, is set to stand trial early next year.
During a brief hearing Thursday in Lethbridge court of justice, Lethbridge lawyer Justin Dean confirmed the trial for Lethbridge businessman Grant Ryan Stevenson is scheduled to run for five days beginning Jan. 29, 2024.
Stevenson, 41, pleaded not guilty May 23 to 11 counts of unauthorized use of a credit card and seven counts of using a forged document. He also elected to be tried in the Alberta Court of Justice.
The Stirling resident was charged after police with the economic crimes unit began an investigation into Lethbridge business Fisher Diesel in 2021.
Police allege more than two dozen people were defrauded of $500,000 between 2018 and 2021 through business dealings, which included credit card fraud and the advanced payment of fees for services that were not provided.
The matter has been adjourned numerous times since Stevenson was arrested and charged last summer.
Many of the delays were required to allow the accused time to retain a lawyer, and during a court hearing in December all but 18 of the initial 62 charges were withdrawn. The Crown also confirmed at the time that there are “thousands of pages of disclosure and information.”

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