Police in the Edmonton area have recovered two high-end Ferrari sports cars that were stolen in Ontario, re-vinned and fraudulently registered in Alberta, according to RCMP.
The investigation began two weeks ago in downtown Edmonton. On Tuesday, Sept. 12, city police stopped a 2023 Ferrari F8 Tributo near Jasper Avenue and 115 Street for a traffic violation and seized the car.
At the same time, the Alberta RCMP’s auto theft north unit began an investigation into two fraudulently registered Ferraris and determined the car Edmonton police had towed was one of the vehicles in question.
RCMP said officers determined the Ferrari had been reported stolen out of Toronto at the end of July, brought to Alberta, given a new, fake vehicle identification number and re-registered in the Prairie province.
On Friday, Sept. 15, the RCMP’s auto unit, with help from the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) and Mounties out of the Beaumont detachment, searched a home in the Royal Oak subdivision of Leduc County, just south of Edmonton.
There, police said officers seized an additional 2017 Ferrari 488 that was reported stolen to Peel Regional Police in early August. It also had a new fraudulent VIN and was re-registered in Alberta.
The combined value of the 2017 Ferrari 488 and a 2023 Ferrari F8 Tributo is nearly $1 million, RCMP said.
Two men were arrested and charged.
Sheldon Gaspard Poirier, 31, of Edmonton is charged with four counts of possession of property obtained by crime, illegal possession of government documents, possessing a weapon contrary to an order, failing to comply with release conditions and fraudulent concealment.
Vicky (Vick) Mander, 35, also from Edmonton, is charged with two counts of fraudulent concealment and two counts of uttering a forged document.
RCMP said Poirier is known to police and will remain in custody, while Mander was released on bail. Both have their next court date set for Sept. 28 at the courthouse in Leduc.
RCMP said whether or not the Ferraris are returned to their owners in Ontario depends on if they’ve already settled with the insurance companies.
Canada saw a surge in vehicle theft and robberies in 2022, as police-reported crime rose for the second successive year, according to data released by Statistics Canada this past summer.
The rate of auto thefts reported by police was up by 24 per cent last year, the data showed.
There were also a record number of payouts by insurance companies.There were $1 billion worth of automobile theft claims with the largest amount of that total — more than $700 million — occurring in Ontario alone, according to RatesDotCa.
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