A Toronto constable who was suspended and charged for his alleged involvement in a towing scheme is now facing additional charges for purported insurance fraud.
Const. Ronald Joseph, 48, was charged with over a dozen new offences, including four counts of fraud over $5,000 and two of attempted fraud over $5,000, CBC News reported. The charges come as 12 other people were arrested and charged with fraud-related offences in connection with the same case.
Authorities alleged that Joseph and the suspects made fraudulent insurance claims for false or staged collisions between April 2018 and May 2020. This was reportedly made possible through a vehicle rental company owned by Joseph.
The charges come after Joseph was recently named in an insurance fraud scheme by another officer, but was not yet charged for insurance fraud.
Last week, Joseph was named in disciplinary proceedings against Constable Brian Smith. According to disciplinary tribunal records, Smith filed a false insurance claim worth over $9,000 for damages to a car he rented from Joseph in 2019. But there was no collision, and Smith allegedly filed the claim because Joseph ordered him to do so.
Although Smith pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct and was demoted, Joseph had not been criminally charged in connection with any of the fraud events described by Smith at that time. But Joseph was still suspended in connection with the towing scheme investigation.
Joseph’s fraud charges are in addition to the charges he faces for his alleged involvement in a towing scheme. Last summer, he and 11 others were charged for corruption and organized crime. Joseph was charged in relation to the alleged theft of a police radio – one that was “cloned” for use by towing companies, then returned to the police force.
Allegedly, the cloned radio was used by the perpetrators to intercept encrypted police transmissions to discover auto collisions quickly. According to police, the collision information was then shared with tow truck drivers for a monthly fee. Investigators also alleged that the group later obtained two more police radios.
Joseph was allegedly receiving kickbacks for shared police radio information as part of the scheme, investigators said. His car rental agency also received referrals from the towing industry.
