Dozens charged, hundreds of vehicles recovered in Ontario auto theft probe

Dozens of people have been arrested and more arrests are expected in an ongoing investigation into auto theft and fraudulent vehicle identification numbers in Toronto, police said Friday.

The investigation, dubbed Project Thoroughbred, began in July and focused on auto theft rings involved in VIN fraud as well as so-called “chop shops,” where stolen vehicles are taken apart and prepared for shipment overseas, police said.

More than 300 charges — including several counts of using forged documents and possession of stolen property — have been laid against 59 suspects, and more than 360 stolen vehicles have been recovered to date, they said.

Warrants have also been issued for the arrests of more than a dozen others, police said.

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Supt. Ron Taverner said the investigation uncovered an alleged scheme involving the registration of fake VINs by employees at a ServiceOntario location.

He said employees are alleged to have knowingly used fake documents provided by the suspects to make it look like the VINs were legitimate, and then registered Ontario licence plates to the fraudulent VINs.

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The stolen vehicles were then sold to unsuspecting buyers at a discount, he told a news conference.

None of the ServiceOntario employees alleged to be involved have been arrested at this time, but Taverner said “they will be.”

Police said they also found chop shops across the city where stolen cars are dismantled over a short time to make them harder to trace.

The results of the investigation were announced on the same day the Ontario government said it would create a new provincial offence for fraudulent vehicle registrations as part of broader efforts to combat auto theft.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Friday that proposed legislation would create a new Highway Traffic Act offence of knowingly providing a false vehicle identification number when applying for a vehicle permit.