Stelianos Psaroudakis, whom is being sought on charges of fraud under $5,000 and public mischief, told the Cochrane RCMP a few hours ago he will be turning himself but has not done so as of yet.

The RCMP determined the 37-year-old Calgary man completely fabricated the claim of being clotheslined by barbed wire while cycling a West Bragg Creek trail on July 5. In fact, the RCMP say, there never was a bicycle and the injuries had been sustained while ATVing on private property elsewhere, where he was a guest, from a barbed wire fence containing livestock.

"As a result of information provided to investigators by other cyclists and users of the trail system and numerous tips we have determined that the injuries sustained were not caused in the manner he reported," says RCMP Inspector Lauren Weare. "We believe Mr. Psaroudakis was injured earlier in a different location and that he filed a false report with the police."

The extensive investigation was aided by many and RCMP were lead to the actual location where he sustained the injuries. No other people were involved in the fraud nor was there an attempt to injury people on the trail.

"The injuries are legitimate, absolutely, but not in the manner tha he was reported.," says Weare. "There was no intention of putting barbed wire across the bike trail to hurt or injury cyclists or any public that was using that trail."

Psaroudakis was reported to have attempted to raise $8,000 through a GoFundMe campaign but managed to only raise a few hundreds dollars before it was closed down.

Weare did not have any information available on the exact amount raised or whether he has actually collected any of it, but she did stress people need to do their due diligence before contributing to any such requests.

"These things, in generally, I think, are a very low percentage, but folks should make sure if they are wanting to contribute that they do a little homework to ensure the funds they want to offer to some of these "asks" are in fact legitimate."

While Psaroudakis has been in touch with an RCMP officer he hasn't come in yet.

"To date attempts to arrest Mr. Psaroudarkis have been unsuccessful and a warrant has been issued for his arrest for these two offenses. At this time, I would encourage Mr. Psaroudakis to turn himself into the Cochrane RCMP. I also urge the public to refrain from taking action against him including refraining from social media comment against him, his family or friends."

Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts can contact the Cochrane detachment at 403-932-2211. If you want to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), by internet at www.tipsubmit.com, or by SMS (check your local Crime Stoppers [www.crimestoppers.ab.ca] for instructions on how).  You do not have to reveal your identity to Crime Stoppers, and if you provide information to Crime Stoppers that leads to an arrest(s), the recovery of stolen property, and/or a seizure of illicit drugs, you may be eligible for a cash reward.