A former Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) employee in Ottawa has been charged by federal police for allegedly accessing the banking profiles of senior political figures, including Prime Minister Mark Carney. Ibrahim El-Hakim faces charges including fraud, unauthorised computer use, identity theft, and trafficking in identity information, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). RBC, Canada’s largest bank, reported the incident, prompting an RCMP investigation in early July. RBC provides a wide range of banking and financial services to personal, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients. RBC is one of North America’s leading diversified financial services companies.
El-Hakim allegedly exploited the bank’s internal IT systems to access personal information without authorisation and committed fraud by sharing this data, the RCMP stated. According to La Presse, which initially reported the news, El-Hakim, aged 23, was purportedly enticed by a scheme on the Telegram social media platform. This scheme allegedly offered him C$500 ($360) for each instance of extending credit lines or performing other activities.
Neither El-Hakim nor his legal representative have responded to requests for comment. An RBC spokesperson confirmed that El-Hakim is no longer employed by the bank. The spokesperson stated, “We can share that we independently identified unauthorised system access and took immediate action to engage authorities… We worked closely with law enforcement to support their investigation.”
The RCMP noted that because the investigation involves the Prime Minister of Canada, it has been assigned to the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team. The RCMP clarified that their investigation has found no evidence of any threat to the prime minister’s safety or to national security. El-Hakim was arrested on July 10 and released on a promise to appear with conditions, and the RCMP indicated that further charges may be laid.
