Airdrie man accused of setting fire to his own home twice

Airdrie RCMP have laid a long list of charges against a 35-year-old man, stemming from several suspected instances of fraud.

A thorough investigation into Sean Lee Sandbach began after a fire was reported at his home on December 31, 2016.

Constable Dan Martin said after that small fire was put out, arson was quickly suspected.

“They obviously found incendiary material in the home, which obviously leads them to believe it was quite suspicious,” he said.

Police responded to a different fire at the same home on April 13, 2016.

Incendiary materials were also found in that incident, and arson was also suspected. This prompted investigators to do a bit more digging into Sandbach’s past.

“Mr. Sandbach was looked at even further, there were other strange occurrences recently and the insurance companies were also contacted,” Cst. Martin said.

Police allege he also lied about a carjacking in November 2015.

“He indicated he was assaulted and then a firearm held to his face while his vehicle was taken away from him. Insurance was involved in that case. So, there’s been a few suspicious occurrences involving him and it was investigated as a complete package,” Cst. Martin said.

This led to police charging Sandbach with 11 offenses, including two counts of arson for a fraudulent purpose and three counts of fraud over $5,000.

Cst. Martin said this is quite a unique case.

“Not common at all. This is a strange one.”

Sandbach is scheduled to be in court on June 1.