Fraudster gets six years in Shoppers Drug Mart case

A Calgary man has been sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a fraud ring that targeted Shoppers Drug Mart stores across four provinces.

Carlo Deguzman, 50, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom Monday to six counts of fraud, forgery and identification theft for offences dating back more than four years.

Deguzman’s guilty pleas came on what was to be the first day of his trial — the third to be set and cancelled since his initial arrest in 2022. During that time, he hired and fired seven lawyers.

“These matters could have been dealt with years ago, but for the actions of the accused,” prosecutor Kathy Bueti told provincial court Judge Heather Pullan. “He was hoping delay would make the case harder to prove. That’s not the case. The charges weren’t going away.”

Winnipeg police arrested Deguzman in June 2025 after he lied about his name during a traffic stop and provided officers with a stolen driver’s licence. Officers learned Deguzman’s true identity and confirmed he was wanted on three separate warrants for probation breaches and over a dozen fraud and robbery offences. Police seized a number of stolen cheques, forged bank and credit cards, an embossing machine and $1,600 cash from his vehicle.

Police obtained a search warrant for Deguzman’s Winnipeg hotel room and found a cache of illegally purchased gift cards and forged documents.

Court heard Deguzman was part of a crime ring that targeted several Winnipeg Shoppers Drug Mart stores between December 2021 and February 2022 using an illegally obtained bar code unique to each store.

Deguzman and others in the crime ring used their cellphones to scan the bar code at self-checkout kiosks to purchase gift cards and other items without any payment being made, Bueti said.

In other instances, the criminals told cashiers they were former employees of the store and provided them with the bar code or used stolen or falsified credit cards to make purchases, Bueti said.

“This is a highly organized group that is actively committing similar offences in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario,” she said. “The investigation into the offences is ongoing and Mr. Deguzman is believed to be a key member of the group.”

Deguzman admitted responsibility for defrauding Shoppers Drug Mart of over $60,000. Last year, Deguzman admitted to similar frauds cheating his victims of over $50,000 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Some Shoppers Drug Mart clerks were fired as a result of the frauds, Bueti said.

“This was not a victimless crime,” she said.

Deguzman has training as a chef, but “no meaningful employment” on his resume, Bueti said.

“This is his career choice, though he’s not particularly successful at it, she said.

Deguzman was addicted to methamphetamine when he was drawn into the crime ring, said defence lawyer Mike Cook.

“I’m not saying he was a pawn … but he was using substances,” Cook said. “If you don’t have a good job (to support a drug habit) you resort to criminality.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca