Two men, including a Barrie resident, are facing 176 charges stemming from a trafficking operation involving stolen vehicles which they allegedly ran while employed at a dealership, Toronto police announced Wednesday.
The year-long scheme, which was allegedly run out of a legitimate “branded” dealership, cost the business and buyers nearly $2.2 million.
Police say they linked 22 automobile sales to the operation.
Officials didn’t disclose the dealership’s name or location.
At a press conference, authorities said suspects Fadi Zeto and Harris Bocknek used their employment at the dealership “to acquire and sell stolen motor vehicles to unsuspecting buyers and pass them off as legitimate.”
The suspects allegedly used the dealership’s money to buy stolen cars from numbered companies, some of which were owned by the accused.
They then drafted fake sales agreements using vehicle identification numbers (VINs) from legally owned cars in order to falsify Carfax reports to match the stolen vehicle, according to police.
After the information was forged, Det. Dan Kraehling said the suspects “could present the vehicle as a legitimate purchase to an unsuspecting buyer.”
“The stolen vehicle would then be delivered to the buyer, unbeknownst to them that the paperwork they just filled out didn’t match the vehicle that had taken possession of,” Kraehling said.
Bocknek, 35, is a Barrie resident, while Zeto, 32, lives in Mississauga.
Both men have been charged with multiple counts of forgery, uttering forged documents, fraud over $5,000 and trafficking of property obtained by crime over $5,000, among other related offences.
Police believe there are more victims who may have bought stolen cars from the suspects. Anyone who knows Zeto, or may have purchased a vehicle from him, has been asked to come forward.
The police operation, dubbed Project Warden, began in August after the dealership tipped off police.
Come October, police executed eight search warrants on homes, commercial garages and vehicles. Officials said they found two “re-vinned” cars, scores of documents and other electronics the two men allegedly used in the scheme.
Project Warden builds on other recent operations aimed at stopping a car theft wave. Projects Warden, Safari and Poacher have led to over a dozen arrests, more than 100 charges and over 100 recovered vehicles in Ontario.
Kraehling said police are “still investigating” whether the two men were linked to a massive Service Ontario car-stealing operation.
Earlier this month, Toronto police announced 59 arrests after busting a scheme that involved Service Ontario employees who were allegedly registering fake VINs to stolen cars.
A few of the cars involved in the Service Ontario operation were linked to one of the accused’s numbered companies, Kraehling said.
Bocknek is scheduled to appear in court at the Ontario Court of Justice on Dec. 17.
Zeto appeared in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Oct. 22.
Anyone with information about the case has been asked by police to contact 53 Division at 416-808-5306.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
