Winnipeg man was charged after allegedly diverting $11,600 from fake fundraiser for teenage crash victim’s funeral; about 240 donors contributed, but the grieving family received nothing

Winnipeg fundraising fraud charges followed a police investigation into a fake online campaign that claimed to help the family of a teenager who died in a motor vehicle crash in October 2022. Police allege the donations, given by roughly 240 people, were routed into a personal bank account and none reached the grieving family. A Winnipeg man, 20 when police announced the case, was charged with fraud over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime and theft over $5,000. The suspect and the victims were not previously known to one another, police said, and the Financial Crimes Unit took over the investigation.How a Winnipeg fundraiser was allegedly set up under fictitious organisers after a teenager’s deathAccording to Winnipeg Police Service, officers investigated the death of 17-year-old David Bunguke in a collision in the St. Vital neighbourhood. In the days after his death, a male suspect allegedly created a campaign on a public fundraising platform, presented as a way to help his grieving family pay for the funeral through donations. Under the guise of fictitious organisers, police allege, the suspect linked his personal bank account as the account that would receive the money.About $11,600 in donations was diverted into the suspect’s own accounts, police allegeThe campaign drew its donors in the space of one week. Between the end of October and early November last year, police allege, the suspect diverted about $11,600 of that money into his own accounts, and it was later used for personal gain. As fraud was suspected, police were contacted.How the suspect turned himself in to police in February 2025 and was released on an undertakingInvestigators identified a suspect believed to be involved and, on 25 February 2025, took him into custody after he turned himself in. He was released on an undertaking, as mandated by the Criminal Code. Police announced the charges on 1 May 2025, and the release reports no court outcome.Platform protections let some donors claim reimbursement, and police ask the public to report fraudProvisions built into the fundraising platform to guard against suspicious campaigns allowed some affected donors to receive reimbursement through claim submissions, police said. Anyone with information about suspected fraudulent online donation activity can report it to their local law enforcement agency and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.