Toronto police officer accused in alleged towing scheme now charged with fraud

A Toronto police officer accused in an alleged corruption scheme involving the towing industry is now facing fraud charges.

Police say Const. Ronald Joseph — who is currently suspended from the force — was charged Friday with more than a dozen new offences, including four counts of fraud over $5,000 and two of attempted fraud over $5,000.

They say 12 people were arrested and charged with various fraud-related offences in connection with the same case earlier this week.

Police allege the suspects carried out fraudulent insurance claims for false or staged collisions between April 2018 and May 2020.

Joseph, 48, was one of 11 suspects charged last summer in an investigation police allege involves corruption and organized crime.

At the time, he was already facing charges related to the alleged theft of a police radio.

Police have said the radio was stolen and cloned, and the copy was returned to the force. The stolen radio was then allegedly used to intercept encrypted police transmissions to learn about collisions more quickly — information that was shared with tow truck drivers for a monthly fee, according to police.

Investigators alleged the group later obtained two more police radios.

They alleged Joseph was receiving kickbacks to pass along information on the location of collisions, and owned a car rental agency that received referrals from the towing industry.