Hanover Police have arrested three suspects in relation to alleged identity theft and fraud at a car dealership, and thet’re looking for two more suspects.
Police say, on April 10th, they were advised by a local car dealership of a possible identify theft and fraud involving the purchase of a $140,000 Cadillac Escalade.
Police investigators determined an unsuspecting person from Elgin County was the victim of identity theft, forgery and fraud related to this transaction.
They say on April 11th, plain clothes and uniform officers arrested a male suspect as he completed the transaction to purchase the vehicle with a fake Ontario driver’s licence.
Police say shortly after, two other male accomplices allegedly involved in the crime were identified and arrested by Hanover officers a few blocks away in a black Mercedes 4-door sedan. They say a search of their vehicle resulted in the recovery of stolen licence plates from the GTA, and other documents linked to high-end stolen vehicles.
A 45-year-old Timmins man, a 33-year-old Hamilton man and a 41-year-old Oakville man were held in custody overnight and released at their bail hearings on Saturday.
The 45-year-old Timmins man is charged with Unauthorized Possession of a Credit Card, Fraud Over, Attempt to use a Forged Document, Possession of an Identity Document, Identity Theft, Personation with Intent to Obtain Property and Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence.
The 33-year-old Hamilton man and the 41-year-old Oakville man are charged jointly with Possession of Stolen Property, Counselling to Commit an Indicatable Offence, Possession of an Identity Document and Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence.
All three suspects are scheduled to appear in Walkerton Court later this month.
Hanover Police investigators say they are continuing to follow leads and are seeking to identify two other male suspects involved in this crime who they say were operating a black Volkswagen Tiguan with dark tinted windows. It has been determined these two males were in the area of 10th Street and 18th Avenue, on Friday between 12 and 12:30 p.m., conducting countersurveillance while working in partnership with these identified suspects.
Police Chief Chris Knoll says, “As demonstrated in this investigation, small towns across Canada are not beyond the reach of
organized crime groups as they will travel far and wide in their efforts to profit from illegal activities.”
Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to contact the Hanover Police Service at 519.364.2411 or Crimestoppers at 1.888.222.TIPS(8477).
