More than 200 charges now laid in Ontario auto-fraud investigation

A second person has been arrested in an auto-fraud investigation, bringing the total number of charges laid to more than 200, police in Toronto say.

The Toronto Police Service provided an update Wednesday on an investigation that began earlier this summer.

Police said that in July, officers received information “about a man committing fraudulent vehicle transfers at Service Ontario locations.”

“With the assistance of Service Ontario, it was determined that the man was responsible for numerous vehicle-related frauds dating back to November 2023,” police said.

On Aug. 9, police made their first arrest in the case after executing a search warrant.

Toronto resident Winkle Lejarde, 43, faces 101 charges.

Investigators said last month that they believed there may be more victims.

On Wednesday, police said a search warrant was executed on Sept. 7 and a second arrest was made.

Toronto resident Kris Kattick, 34, faces 104 charges, bringing the total number of charges laid in the case to 205.

Police said that in order to protect yourself against buying a stolen or re-vinned vehicle, consumers should purchase a vehicle history report.

“Common things to look for on a vehicle history report that may indicate the vehicle is re-vined are sudden color changes to new vehicles, odometer mileage going down between owners and indications the vehicle was previously exported with no import certificate back to Canada,” officers said.

Anyone with information on the case was asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.