Bizarre identity theft swindle costs Alberta taxpayers over $500,000 [EDMONTON,Canada]

EDMONTON (CP) - A sophisticated identity theft involving a million-dollar land transfer, an elderly Calgary woman, an Ontario casino and a ring of rogues has cost Alberta taxpayers $540,400.

The province made the payment in February to return title to a million-dollar Calgary property to an 89-year-old woman who was the victim of a clever identity theft and fraud, The Canadian Press has learned.

Elizabeth Jean Costello didn't even know she had lost title to the vacant, undeveloped property on Macleod Trail, one of the main business strips in the city. That is, not until an embarrassed mortgage broker showed up on her doorstep to ask if she had recently sold it.

from Yahoo