Toronto police have arrested two car salesmen accused of using their positions to fraudulently obtain stolen cars and resell them as used vehicles.
Harris Bocknek, 35, of Barrie and 32-year-old Fadi Zeto of Mississauga, were arrested in connection with a stolen car scheme worth approximately $2.18 million in Toronto, said the city’s police service in a Nov. 6 press release.
Authorities linked the accused to 22 fraudulent car sales allegedly made while they worked at a legitimate car dealership.
The arrests are the result of Project Warden, an ongoing auto theft investigation in Toronto that began in August, officials said.
“The goal of Project Warden was to locate and arrest individuals responsible for trafficking stolen vehicles within the city of Toronto,” said detective Dan Kraehling. “We do believe there are more victims.”
The accused face a total of 176 charges, including trafficking in property obtained by crime, forgery, and fraud.
Kraehling said the dealership where the accused worked reported them to the police after finding out about their alleged crimes.
The men would reportedly obtain cars from numbered companies, some of which were owned by the suspects using funds from the dealership, police said. They would then assign each stolen car a “clean” vehicle identification number (VIN) to create false sales agreements. Next, they would alter the car’s history reports to match the fabricated information.
The suspects’ customers would be unaware that the VIN they received did not match the vehicle they had purchased. In some cases, the name on the vehicle’s registration did not match the name on the sales documents, and even included names of non-existent or deceased people, according to police.
Project Warden follows two other investigations dubbed Projects Safari and Poacher, which resulted in arrests and the recovery of several vehicles.
“These initiatives have resulted in more than a dozen arrests, over 100 charges laid, and the recovery of more than 100 stolen vehicles, marking significant strides in our fight against auto theft,” said inspector Heather Nichols in the release.
According to police estimates, Toronto has had 8,100 vehicle thefts this year, down 21 percent from the same period last year.
