Car dealership employees accused of selling stolen cars: Toronto police
Two suspects accused of selling stolen cars while employed at a legitimate car dealership in Toronto are now facing a combined 176 charges, police say.
Details of the investigation, dubbed Project Warden, were provided at a news conference at Toronto police headquarters on Wednesday morning.
Det. Dan Kraehling told reporters Wednesday that the investigation was launched in Aug. 2024 after officers discovered two suspects who worked as salespeople at a “branded” car dealership in the city who police believed were involved in the fraudulent sale of stolen vehicles.
The alleged fraud was reported to police by the dealership, police said.
Kraehling said the suspects allegedly used their position to acquire stolen vehicles and sell them to unsuspecting buyers.
“One of the accused employed as a salesperson at the dealership would source stolen vehicles from numbered companies. Some of these numbered companies they actually controlled themselves,” Kraehling said.
“The dealership’s own funds were then used to buy the vehicles, which were fraudulently presented as legitimate to unsuspecting buyers.”
He added that the accused would also generate “fictitious sales documents” using stolen and fake VIN (Vehicle Identification Numbers) to “further the deception.”
“They would also alter and modify Carfax reports so that they could present the vehicle as legitimate,” Kraehling said.
He said the stolen vehicle would be delivered to the buyer, who had no idea that the paperwork they had signed didn’t match the vehicle that they were given.
“In some cases, the stolen vehicles were falsely registered to vehicles that were not listed on the sales documents, including one individual who was deceased at the time of the sale,” the detective added.
During the week of Oct. 21, he said police executed eight criminal code search warrants at commercial garages, residences, and on motor-vehicles in the GTA.
During the searches, Kraehling said, officers recovered two suspected re-vinned vehicles as well as documents used in the fraud.
To date, Kraehling said, police have linked 22 fraudulent vehicle sales to the two accused.
He noted that police believe there may be other victims who are unaware that they purchased stolen vehicles.
“They were operating for about a year, from our understanding,” Kraehling said.
He said if the buyers had run their own independent vehicle report, the fraud would have been “relatively easy to detect.”
“There would be discrepancies between the one being presented to them by the salesperson and the one the one that they had in their hand,” he added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trump picks former congressman Pete Hoekstra to be ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was picking former congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.