Montreal man accused of stealing from 17 people and businesses

Montreal man, Sean Magna, is facing 17 charges of theft, fraud and robbery from local residents and businesses.

Janice Beattie says she was finishing up her shift at a pet store in Verdun when someone walked in looking for a specific product.

She walked to the back of the store to find the item, and she thought the client would follow.

“I looked behind me and I didn’t see him then I was, like, oh that’s kind of weird,” Beattie said.

Surveillance footage shows the man taking Beattie’s backpack.

“While I was at the back of the store, he had grabbed my backpack and was going through it,” Beattie said. “You can see clearly in the video, [he] put my bag back in place so I had no idea my wallet was even taken.”

According to an arrest warrant, Beattie is listed as one of 17 victims of Sean Magna. He’s facing several charges, including theft, fraud and robbery.

“It’s the kind of thing you’re like, you see it on TV all the time, and then you just would never imagine someone would have the guts to really pull that off,” Beattie said.

In January, CTV News spoke with another robbery victim, an employee at a Plateau business called Espace Skins.

In that incident, security footage shows a man making off with a cash register.

Prosecutors allege Magna committed crimes from last July until as recently as April, which is when he’s accused of stealing from Beattie, who says $3,000 was taken from her line of credit.

Beattie had no idea there were many other alleged victims until she was contacted by CTV News.

“It’s definitely concerning because of the way he did it,” Beattie said. “I mean, he clearly knows what he’s doing and he’s going to probably keep doing it and stealing people’s money.”