A 46-year-old Texas fugitive has been arrested in Saskatchewan after spending three years hiding out in Western Canada.

A news release from the Saskatchewan RCMP was issued Thursday, saying Gene Paul Hooks was arrested on Jan. 10 in Shaunavon, Sask. for immigration violations.

He is wanted on outstanding fraud charges from Washington County, Tx., Sgt. Paul Dawson of the RCMP said in a phone interview.

Hooks also served time in Texas on an earlier sex-related offence, according to online court documents from Jefferson County, Tx.

In a release, the RCMP said officers in Shaunavon first became suspicious of Hooks late last year, and alerted the RCMP's Prairie Integrated Border Enforcement Team.

Investigators began to look into Hooks' history and determined he had first entered Canada in 2008 at Edmonton, and had lived all over Western Canada in the three years since.

He had also used various dates of birth and aliases, including the name Jamie Klassen Garza and had spent time in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in that period.

A Google search of the name Jamie Klassen Garza turned up an online classified listing for a business called Hooks Mechanical Services, Ltd.

The business, which was for sale at the tidy asking price of $1.5 million, specialized in heavy duty automotive services such as welding, and came with new equipment and a 4,000 square-foot, five-bay shop, according to the advertisement.

The ad said the business had a three-year contract in place to service a 250-vehicle fleet, and had a "great location," though no province or town was specified.

Hooks, a U.S. national, was issued a deportation order on Jan. 13 and was scheduled to appear in Regina Provincial Court on Thursday morning to face the following charges:

• Two counts of fraud
• Uttering a forged document
• Forgery
• Obstruction
• Two counts of personation with intent
• Falsifying employment record
• Uttering forged passport
• Possession of property obtained by crime

All the offences are alleged to have occurred in the past six months. None have been proven in a court of law.