A former Royal Bank of Canada employee has been convicted of three criminal offences for opening fraudulent accounts and accessing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s personal banking information.
An agreed statement of facts in the case filed in an Ontario court said Ottawa bank branch employee Ibrahim El-Hakim was recruited by a person he believed “to be associated with organized crime.”
The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team launched an investigation last year after being contacted by RBC.
RCMP Cpl. Erique Gasse said in September 2025 the investigation gave the Mounties no reason to believe that Carney’s safety or national security was at risk.
The agreed statement in the case said El-Hakim opened no fewer than 43 fraudulent bank accounts between November 2023 and June 2025.
El-Hakim confessed to an RBC corporate security official in late June 2025 that he had taken part in the fraud after being recruited on Telegram by a person using the alias AI WORLD, the statement said. Telegram is a social media messaging app.
“Mr. El-Hakim stated that he participated in the scheme because he was experiencing financial difficulties,” it said. He was paid at least $5,000, receiving $500 for each account issued via e-transfer into one of his accounts at other banks.
Court records show El-Hakim pleaded guilty in August to fraud over $5,000, unauthorized use of a computer, and identity theft.
El-Hakim failed to appear for a sentencing hearing late last month and his lawyer informed Ontario Court Justice Norm Boxall at the time that he was no longer in Ottawa. The court has scheduled El-Hakim’s sentencing for a new date later this month.
Fraud Case
The agreed statement of facts shares El-Hakim’s account of creating bank profiles and opening credit products at AI WORLD’s request. All of the requests were communicated via Telegram.
AI WORLD would provide instructions along with personally identifying details, such as a name, date of birth, social insurance number, driver’s licence information, passport details, and customer profile information. It would ask for a credit card to be linked to a specific account.
El-Hakim would also share personal identification details with AI WORLD, including online banking passwords.
RBC discovered he had used his work computer and software to make unauthorized inquiries into customer profiles, the statement said.
El-Hakim viewed the customer banking profiles belonging to Carney, Justin Trudeau, and another person on June 17, 2025, it said. The Trudeau account he accessed “was determined not to belong to the former prime minister,” according to the statement.
El-Hakim was observed consulting a smart watch while accessing these profiles, it said. The surveillance footage also showed him taking a cellphone from his pocket, using it, and repeatedly shifting his attention between the phone and the computer screen at his bank workstation.
“Mr. El-Hakim committed these offences despite having received training in ethics, privacy, security and fraud prevention as part of his employment at RBC,” the statement said. “He used customer information provided by third parties, opened fraudulent accounts, attempted to obtain credit products, accessed customer information without authorization, verified and transmitted identifying information, and received compensation for his participation.”
RBC had to pay $14,634 to provide 27 clients with two years of credit monitoring after their identities were stolen, according to the statement.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
