7 arrested after police investigate auto theft ring that allegedly involved ServiceOntario employees

Toronto police say they have arrested seven people in connection with a suspected auto theft ring in which the accused were allegedly conspiring with ServiceOntario employees.

In a news release on Wednesday, police said the seven are facing 73 charges after an investigation that began in February into the ring that was believed to be responsible for several vehicles thefts in Toronto. 

"As the project progressed, investigators learned that suspects were conspiring with employees at ServiceOntario, who were trafficking in driving and vehicle data taken from the Ministry of Transportation database," police said in the release.

Police said they seized about $1.5 million in proceeds of crime as part of the investigation by the service's major crime unit. The proceeds included numerous luxury vehicles and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.

According to police, employees at ServiceOntario would provide the accused with information about vehicles and drivers, including their addresses. Police alleged that the accused would then steal the vehicles.

ServiceOntario employees would also provide the accused with fraudulent vehicle registrations and vehicle identification numbers (VIN), police said.

Investigators say the accused would place the fraudulent vehicle identification numbers on the stolen vehicles, in a process known as "re-vinning," to appear legitimate. The fraudulent numbers were linked to the fraudulent registrations, police said.

"The vehicles were then sold domestically, to unsuspecting buyers, as used vehicles or were used to commit other crimes," the release said.

Officers executed 25 search warrants between July and October at residences, commercial garages, ServiceOntario branches and vehicles. 

"Investigators located and recovered several stolen and re-vined vehicles in addition to equipment, tools and electronics utilized by the accused to facilitate the theft of motor vehicles. The search warrants also revealed that the amount of people who had their data trafficked by the accused numbered in the hundreds," police said.

The seven accused, who are based in Toronto, Markham, Vaughan and Oshawa, range in age from 25 to 38. 

Police recommend that drivers do the following to prevent auto thefts:

• Remove the FOBs from your vehicle and place them in a Faraday box or pouch.
• Lock your doors and close your windows.
• Park in a well-lit area.
• Park indoors.
• Install motion-sensor lights.
• Install high quality surveillance cameras but not higher than nine or 10 feet off the ground.
• Remove all valuable items from your vehicle.
• Cover the VIN.
• Back into your driveway.

Police said they also recommend installing warning devices such as audible alarms, steering wheel locks, brake locks, pedal locks and tire locks, as well as applying theft deterrent decals and identification markers in or on vehicles.

Also recommended are immobilizing devices, including ignition kill-switches, starter and ignition systems and tracking devices, police said.

When buying a used vehicle, police said they recommend getting vehicle history reports. 

"Re-vined vehicles will often have discrepancies in their vehicle histories such as being the wrong colour or having inconsistent odometer readings," police said.