A woman facing charges for allegedly posing as a nurse in British Columbia and Alberta has been arrested in the United States, according to a B.C. police department.
Charrybelle Talaue was taken into custody with the assistance of the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she was located in Idaho, the Central Saanich Police Service (CSPS) said in a May 6 news release.
Talaue was charged with multiple counts of fraud, forgery, and personation after allegedly misrepresenting herself as a registered nurse, the police said. They added that the suspect “fled the jurisdiction” while awaiting trial, prompting warrants to be issued for her arrest.
The police said they believe Talaue committed the alleged offences back in December 2023 across the Capital Regional District, which encompasses 13 municipalities and three rural or unincorporated areas on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Saanich is a district municipality on the southern end of Vancouver Island, within the Greater Victoria area.
In their investigation, CSPS detectives extended efforts into Alberta, where collaboration with law enforcement there led to additional charges laid against Talaue in that province.
Talaue has since been returned to Canada, the news release said, adding that she remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Victoria on May 12.
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“I want to acknowledge the diligence of the investigative team and express my appreciation for the inter-agency cooperation that led to the arrest,” said CSPS Deputy Chief Kevin Hackett in a statement.
Talaue was taken into custody with the cooperation of the U.S. partners as well as the RCMP and officials from the Canada Border Services Agency in Osoyoos, a town near the Canada-U.S. border.
Charges
In addition to forgery and impersonation charges, Talaue was also charged in 2023 with failing to comply with a condition of an undertaking while being at large on that undertaking, thus violating a section of Canada’s Criminal Code, according to a CSPS news release issued Dec. 19, 2023.
Her forgery charges include “making false documents” such as a marriage certificate, an Alberta health card, a Canadian citizenship certificate, and a name change affidavit. Talaue was also accused of fraudulently impersonating someone named Yves Anglehart, who is a registrant of the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM), with “intent to gain advantage for herself,” the release added.
The Central Saanich Police Service said it launched the investigation after being contacted in early October 2023 by staff at Island Health, one of B.C.,’s five regional health authorities, which reported that Talaue had allegedly applied for a nursing position using “suspicious documents.”
The BCCNM issued a public advisory on Oct. 12, 2023, stating that Talaue is not a registered nurse.
“This person has never been and is not a registrant of BCCNM and is not entitled to practice as a registered nurse in British Columbia,” read the college’s advisory, which also warned that Talaue may be using multiple aliases while posing as a nurse in order to obtain work in a hospital.
The warning concurred with the CSPS’s Dec. 19, 2023, news release. The release said the police service believed that Talaue, age 34 at the time, had applied for and worked in other health-care jobs in B.C. and Alberta under a number of aliases. They included Charrybelle Perez Talaue, Charrybelle Talaue Baldesancho, Belle Talaue, Belle Marie, Charrybelle Baldesancho, Charie Talaue, Yves Anglehart, and Belle Yves Talaue Anglehart.
Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.
