Shaun Rootenberg charged with defrauding people he met on eHarmony

Toronto Police say he used the same alias, Shaun Rothberg, that he used at Algoma Public Health

Toronto Police Service handout photo of Shaun Rootenberg

Shaun Rootenberg, former interim chief financial officer at Algoma Public Health, is facing criminal charges of fraud over $5,000 in relation to funds allegedly taken from people he met on a dating site.

Toronto Police Service said this afternoon that Rootenberg operated on eHarmony as Shaun Rothberg.

Rootenberg used the name Shaun Rothberg during his employment at APH.

Since SooToday first reported on January 16, 2015 about Rothberg/Rootenberg's earlier history of fraud, APH's medical officer of health Dr. Kim Barker submitted her resignation, forensic audits were ordered by both APH and the provincial government, four members of the APH board were asked by Ontario's health minister to resign.

The following is the full text of a news release issued by Toronto Police Service:

*************************
Case #: 17-9437758

The Toronto Police Service would like to advise the public of an arrest in an ongoing fraud investigation.

It is alleged that:

a man named Shaun Rootenberg, using the alias Shaun Rothberg, used the services of the online dating site eHarmony to locate and defraud his victims
he carried on intimate relationships with his victims, while convincing them to trust him with funds that he was to invest for their benefit
this was a ruse used to get money from his victims
the funds were never invested, but were used to fund the man's lifestyle

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, at 8:15 a.m., Shaun Rootenberg, 49, of Thornhill, was arrested.

He is charged with:

four counts of fraud over $5,000
four counts of possession of proceeds of crime
four counts of laundering proceeds of crime

He was scheduled to appear in court at College Park on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, 10 a.m., courtroom #501.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Paul Mackrell at 416-808-7813, [email protected], Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).

*************************