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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