After months of investigative work, police have arrested seven people and recovered over $1 million in stolen automobiles in a joint forces operation.
“These arrests are further evidence that organized auto theft and insurance fraud is a real problem in Ontario,” said Rick Dubin, Vice-President, Ontario,
Insurance Bureau of Canada. “When fraudsters cheat the system, honest policyholders end up paying in the form of higher premiums.”
In recent months, investigators from IBC identified and seized in partnership with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), a number of stolen vehicles from containers at the ports of Montreal and Halifax and assisted police in the investigation.
The auto theft ring had been operating in Durham Region, York Region and Toronto.
According to police, the alleged crime ring included an informal collection of thieves who stole the cars, a licensed car dealer who fraudulently obtained Ministry of Transportation documents, a person who changed the Vehicle Information Number (VIN) on the vehicles to mask their identity and an exporter who shipped the stolen vehicles from Canada to be sold in West Africa.
The stolen vehicles would be sealed in steel sea containers in the GTA and shipped to Africa via the Ports of Halifax and Montreal.
“We all have a responsibility to understand how fraud and organized auto theft works against the interests of consumers and to root it out,” said Dubin.
Insurance fraud and auto theft is big business in Ontario. According to KPMG estimates for the Ontario anti-fraud task force, the amount of insurance fraud in Ontario is as much as $1.6 billion a year. In 2014, IBC and CBSA seized over $8 million in stolen vehicles intended for export.
