GTA woman arrested for fraud has history of fraud charges, court records show

A woman arrested as a result of a Toronto police fraud investigation has a lengthy history of fraud charges in Canada and the United States, CBC Toronto has learned.

Toronto police said in a news release last month that the force had arrested Jodi-Ann Bonnick, a 33-year-old from Kleinburg, Ont., and charged her with more than two dozen criminal offences, including making false statements to procure money, fraud over $5,000 and possession of proceeds obtained by crime.

Toronto police had previously turned to the public to help look for Bonnick, who they said in an earlier release was wanted after a victim spent over $800,000 on goods they never received.

Public records and media reports show Bonnick has a history of fraud charges in Florida and reportedly Jamaica, as well as Toronto. 

According to court documents, Bonnick has multiple pending criminal charges against her for fraud in Toronto. None of the allegations have been proven in court. In an email, Bonnick's lawyer Calvin Barry said, "We have nothing to add."

A former employee told CBC that she "almost didn't believe" that Bonnick had been arrested. 

"There's been so many times she's been arrested and then she's come out," Allissa Douglas, who worked for Bonnick at Bonnick's Jerk in September 2023, told CBC Toronto. 

"I'm finally happy. I feel like she's finally going to get what she deserves."

Douglas said she used to admire Bonnick, as did many others in the Jamaican and Caribbean community, because she seemed to be a young entrepreneur that operated several businesses in Toronto, including a nail salon, a grocery store, a restaurant and a food truck. 

"It's very hard for anyone to be successful, especially a Black woman," Douglas said. "This is someone I want(ed) to look up to."

Douglas said she was never paid during her short time employed at Bonnick's Jerk, a Dundas Street W. restaurant near Trinity Bellwoods Park that has since closed.

She filed a complaint to Ontario's Ministry of Labour after Bonnick failed to pay her for over a month's worth of wages. In May, the ministry found that Bonnick had "contravened the Employment Standards Act" and ordered her to pay Douglas, according to a copy of the decision seen by CBC Toronto.

Douglas said she's still waiting to be reimbursed.

"Once I found out all the information, it just made me double back and be like, 'You can't trust everybody,'" Douglas said.

"Luckily, she didn't take as much as $800,000 from me, but $3,000 for a 21-year-old — that's a lot of money."

In the last year, several social media users have created videos and posts about Bonnick's various businesses, accusing the owner of things from selling expired food to mistreating customers and employees. 

Laxia Panton is one of them. In her posts, she alleges that Bonnick didn't pay her for the five days she worked at Bonnick's West Indian Grocery. That store, located at Jane Street and Weston Road, has also been closed.

"The main reason why I speak out about this is because I don't want other people to fall in the same trap because I know this is a trend for her," Panton told CBC Toronto. 

Fraud claims made in Ontario, Florida and Jamaica

Public records show Bonnick was convicted of multiple offences in Florida, including grand theft in the third degree and forgery in 2008, for which she was sentenced to felony probation.

Criminal charges and civil suits followed in Ontario. 

In April, a Toronto judge granted Northbridge General Insurance Corporation a default judgment, in a civil lawsuit accusing Bonnick of committing insurance fraud. The company said Bonnick made $148,041 through a false claim. According to the court files, Bonnick reported to police and the corporation that she was assaulted in her nail salon and her business was vandalized, but an ensuing police investigation found no evidence.

In September, Bonnick failed to appear in court in a case where she is accused of trying to defraud Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram on Front Street in 2017. 

Also last month, another judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest, after she failed to appear for charges of impersonating and defrauding a woman in 2016 in Toronto.

Bonnick is reportedly also facing criminal charges in Jamaica, where Florida court records say she was born.

In a piece published online in February, the Jamaican Observer newspaper said Bonnick appeared that month in a Kingston courtroom, where she was accused of using fraud to obtain over $27,000 CAD worth of goods. Another piece, published later that month by the Jamaica Star said investigators are accusing Bonnick of obtaining credit by fraud and defrauding victims. They also allege she failed to pay for products that ended up in her Toronto grocery store. 

CBC Toronto has reached out to Jamaican officials but has yet to hear back.

Bonnick is scheduled to appear in court in Toronto on Dec. 3.