Mounties bust Montreal-based international telemarketing scheme

RCMP expect to arrest about 100 people after cracking down on a telemarketing scheme in Montreal Tuesday.

RCMP officers escort suspects in a telemarketing scheme to waiting buses during a raid in Montreal Tuesday. Police arrested almost 100 people in a telemarketing scheme that involved selling products such as first-aid kits at inflated prices. RCMP officers escort suspects in a telemarketing scheme to waiting buses during a raid in Montreal Tuesday. Police arrested almost 100 people in a telemarketing scheme that involved selling products such as first-aid kits at inflated prices.

(Ryan Remiorz/Associated Press)

The Mounties raided five locations in the Montreal area, including residential homes and a downtown office building on Belmont Street.

The scheme allegedly bilked about 1,500 small and medium-sized businesses in Canada, the United States and Europe, who were contacted by telemarketers posing as representatives of a government agency.