Police have re-arrested a B.C. man accused of faking cancer to commit about $2 million in fraud, and say he's been up to his old tricks since failing to appear at a scheduled court date.
Douglas Archie Clark, 64, was arrested at Kerrisdale Seniors Centre Thursday morning after being on the run since skipping a July 11 court date.
Clark was originally released from custody in June, after being charged with 13 counts of fraud for allegedly bilking more than 40 victims of more than $2 million.
Police say that during his time on the lam, Clark approached more people with a phony story.
"Some of these victims are elderly, some of these victims have given away a good chuck of their retirement savings," RCMP Insp. Dave Fleugel told CTV News.
"We do believe that our investigators will be laying more charges."
Investigators say that Clark operates by telling targets that he was an admiral in the Canadian Navy who is now dying of cancer and needs money for drugs. He allegedly tells people that he had paid for experimental drugs, but the Canadian Forces abandoned him when he and his wife got sick.
Pat Stephen says he lost his life savings -- more than $211,000 -- to Clark, a former friend that he first met in the 1960s.
Clark approached Stephen and his wife Linda three years ago with a desperate story: He was going to die unless he could find someone to pay his American medical bills.
"He'd come back and he'd ask for $3,000, $5,000, $10,000, and it was always in cash," Stephen said.
"I say I went with my heart and I was wrong. That's all."
Clark also showed off what appeared to be a complete military uniform that fooled his former business partner Chuck Gale, who really did serve in the Navy.
In a series of payments, Gale gave Clark a total of $25,000.
"He deserves an Academy Award, in retrospect," Gale said. "He would cry, he'd have his head on my shoulders,"
Clark is being held in police custody until his next court appearance, scheduled for Monday.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
