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X-Ray Swindler Faces Fraud Charges

A man accused of swindling X-ray charts from hospitals and clinics in Canada for their valuable silver content has been charged with fraud, Canada's capital police said Wednesday.

The Toronto resident was arrested 75 kilometers (46 miles) west of Ottawa with 30,000 X-rays in a rented truck after staff at one clinic became suspicious of his activities and alerted authorities, Staff Sergeant Kevin McCaffrey said.

The man allegedly impersonated a recycling company employee and drove around Ontario province collecting old X-rays from at least seven hospitals and clinics, convincing staff he was to pick up old X-rays due to be destroyed.

"We believe he wanted the X-rays for their silver content," McCaffrey told AFP. "There's a process that you can separate silver from the X-rays that can be worth a chunk of change."

X-ray film can contain five to 12 grams of silver per kilogram, and the price of silver has recently skyrocketed to more than $30 per ounce.

The value of the seized stash, depending on the size of each X-ray film, is estimated at up to $25,000.

Bill Dimitro, 37, is to appear in court next week on the fraud charges.

Source: Agence France Presse


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