Niagara police arrest 3rd man in ongoing theft, fraud investigation near St. Catharines

Another arrest has been made in an ongoing fraud investigation connected to a West Lincoln business accused of links to organized crime.

Niagara Regional Police (NRPS) says 27-year-old Zachary Everett from Hamilton has been charged with five offences related to theft over $5,000, uttering threats and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

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The arrest is the third in an ongoing investigation with Hamilton police’s major fraud branch and High Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) that started in January 2019, investigating alleged fraud and theft of construction equipment from a West Lincoln business, Havana Group Incorporated.

Earlier in June, Niagara police’s central fraud unit arrested 46-year-old Steven Sardinha from Ancaster, Ont., and 58-year-old Grant Norton of Cambridge, in connection with the same investigation.

Both Sardinha and Norton are facing similar charges: theft over $5,000, uttering threats, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and resisting arrest.

Havana Group has been the subject of some controversy in recent months after Flamborough-Glanbrook Conservative MP David Sweet asked the RCMP to investigate the Waterdown Garden Supplies case, citing alleged links to organized crime.

Sweet wrote a letter in May to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair, saying the matter required “immediate attention of the government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”

“The federal government needs to take serious action to target and eliminate organized crime in Hamilton before that violence becomes more widespread and innocent civilians get caught in the crosshairs,” said Sweet.

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The MP’s comments came after a group of residents living near Highway 5 in west Flamborough complained about contaminated soil allegedly being dumped at the Waterdown Garden Supplies in addition to reports of receiving threats when they tried to produce evidence.

“There was good evidence that there was a lot of toxic material that was coming in and it continued to escalate to the point where a number of my constituents have been threatened,” Sweet told Global News. “You know they tried to take video for evidence and actually had people approach them and threaten their safety.”

Ontario’s environment ministry is investigating allegations involving Havana Group Supplies, whose one minority owner is alleged to be Hamilton mobster Pat Musitano.

In May, the Ontario government announced proposed legislation stiffening penalties for illegal soil dumping.

Flamborough-Glanbrook MPP Donna Skelly said the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan would not only prevent illegal dumping in Flamborough but also illegal dumping in other rural areas across the province.

“The proposed changes will not only prevent illegal dumping in Flamborough but also illegal dumping in other rural areas across the province.”

Niagara police say Everett has been released on a promise to appear and is expected at a St. Catharines courthouse on Tuesday, July 30.

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