COP ARRESTED RE TOW TRUCKS SCAM

A Toronto police officer has been charged with a number of offences after allegedly stealing a police radio and subsequently receiving kickbacks as part of organized crime involving the towing industry.

Toronto police announced the results of the investigation during a press conference Monday morning.

Supt. Domenic Sinopoli said an investigation into the theft of encrypted police radios began in August 2019.

"As the investigation took on some light, the corruption revealed itself," Sinopoli said.

"What we learned was a consortium of tow truck drivers who were in possession of stolen police radios and were utilizing the encrypted transmissions to facilitate their business interests. The transmissions were broadcast to other tow truck drivers for a fee through the use of an internet-based app."

Sinopoli said drivers would use the radios to get to accident scenes quickly, and in some situations possibly evade police.

Sinopoli said one officer was allegedly responsible for the theft of a police radio and giving it to the tow truck drivers.

"The stolen radio was cloned and put back into TPS circulation," he said, adding that the police service then unknowingly had a fake radio in its possession.

"The same officer, operating out of 22 Division, was receiving monetary compensation for informing the said group on accident locations."

Sinopoli said the officer also operated a car rental agency and owned two tow trucks, which were operated by members of the group.

"The officer would receive monetary compensation for the tow trucks, he would receive kickbacks for the tips he provided and he would receive referrals to his car rental agency," he said.

The officer, who was first arrested on June 15 and charged with breach of trust and theft, was re-arrested on Thursday as search warrants were executed as part of the investigation. He was charged with additional offences.

Const. Ronald Joseph, 47, now faces an additional charge of commissioning an offence for criminal organization and participating in activities of a criminal organization, among other offences.

Officials said it's believed a total of three police radios were stolen sometime between February 2018 and December, though it isn't clear if other officers may be involved.

Police allege JAT  the stolen radios were used by "several" tow-truck companies.

Sinopoli said after the execution of different search warrants in May and June, a total of 11 individuals were arrested."The industry is ripe with corruption," Sinopoli said.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that all tow truck drivers are corrupt. What this means is that there are certain individuals who are taking advantage of the system and the opportunities available to them to facilitate their business interests."

Kevin Lima, Francisco Mike Portela, Jacob Villeneuve Portela, Mark Wolfe, Leonardo Ciulla, Hernani Capela, Giuseppe Carfora, Michael Carreiro, Francesco Caruso, and Tyson Plourde all face charges in the investigation.

This comes after York Regional Police released the results of an investigation into the towing industry at the end of May, which resulted in hundreds of organized crime charges being laid amid ongoing turf wars.

A guns and gangs investigation has exposed a violent turf war among tow-truck drivers across the Greater Toronto Area,

Const. Hussein Assaad, 44, Const. Kevin Putinski, 32 and Const. Andrew Chronopoulos, 38, are each charged by the RCMP's anti-corruption unit in connection with allegations they sold information to tow truck drivers. They were each charged by the RCMP's anti-corruption unit with breach of trust and secret commissions, a charge under the fraud section of the Criminal Code involving what would commonly be called kickbacks.

in a news release issued, RCMP said the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) asked investigators to look into the matter last July. In a separate statement, the Ottawa Police Service said it first learned of the corruption allegations the previous month.

What occurs inDurban, South Afric  with respect to tow trucks in that city.

Tensions continued to simmer between rival tow truck operators in Durban as they battle over doing business in the city. Despite having secured an interim court interdict against competitors, at least three drivers of the Iway Roadside Emergency Services, a new but powerful player in the industry, reported cases of intimidation on Friday, according to the company's legal representative, Lunga Peter. Last week Iway secured an interim interdict against rival operators in and around Durban, after a string of alleged violent attacks and intimidation against its drivers. These cases include alleged incidents of intimidation.

These incidents  included of intimidation, damage to cars and even assaults  against  tow truck  drivers.

Smaller operators in Durban. sSouth Africa   have accused Iway of trying to muscle them out of business and of trying to monopolize the industry for themselves.

way's MD and tow truck baron Craig Lipschitz also claimed, in the court papers, that he had been threatened and informed through an anonymous call that a bounty of R400 000 had been put on his head. Insiders have alleged that some of the operators have enlisted the help of gangsters for protection and as they prepare for war with each other. Already three members of the notorious TDK gang had been arrested in connection with the ongoing violence in the towing industry.

Suspects had been arrested in connection with cases ranging from intimidation to assault. However the spokesman for the KZN Towing Fraternity, Paul Poilly, denied the claims made by Iway in its court application, saying that members of his association had not perpetrated any crimes against Iway or its drivers. Poilly said that one of the incidents where an Iway tow truck was allegedly overturned by angry rival operators was a fabrication. "What happened is that the truck overturned because of the wind and was on its side. So when the other operators heard that another tow truck had overturned they rushed to the scene, but as soon as they realised that it was an Iway car, they left the scene."

On the involvement of gangsters in the ongoing feud, Poilly accused Lipschitz of having been the first one to involve gangsters.

Police spokesman Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu confirmed the arrests.

Many years ago, my car stalled on a highway in  Toronto.  Since I was a member of a motorist  organization, I didnt have to pay for the tow.

Ten minutes later, a tow truck arrived that had the name  that looked like that of the  of the organization on the side of the truck. The tow truck took my car to the garage I always use and when we arrived at the garage, he asked for a hundred dollars. I reminded The driver that I was a member of the motorists organization. He told me that he wasn’t part of the  organization. I called the police and the officer told the tow truck driver to drive away or he would arrest him.  The dishonest tow truck driver was out a lot of money when he towed my car for many miles.

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