ELECTION 99
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

How The $16 m Car Theft Racket Was Busted

A P Kamath

When 29-year-old Claude Illareguy was sentenced in June to seven years in prison in Montreal, the media dubbed him the 'King of Car Thieves'. He had not been caught for over five years.

The prosecutors said he was responsible for the theft of hundreds of cars from Pearson airport and other busy areas in Montreal. The cars, which were resold in Canada, America and South America, were totally worth over $ 16 million.

Hardly anybody in the media speculated then if Illareguy had a boss. This week Canadian authorities said they have arrested the leaders of the gang that Illareguy worked for. An immigrant couple, Balwinder (Bill) Singh Dhaliwal, 43, and Kuljit Dhaliwal, 39, of Mississauga, who also employed over 200 people to keep the supply of stolen cars run smoothly, has been arrested. The couple even continued their scam even after the Illareguy's arrest.

Now the Dhaliwals have been charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

"We're alleging they masterminded the theft of thousands of vehicles," said Constable Brendan Kelly of Peel Region's auto crime bureau. "There are so many, you can't even count them."

Officials have also arrested half a dozen people connected with a scam that has been running for over five years.

The scam was unraveled after Illareguy apparently co-operated with the authorities but not before a police officer who infiltrated the gang was asked to kidnap a woman, allegedly for ransom. The police operation was called Project Torpedo.

According to the police the couple ran Flagship Motors, a automotive shop near the airport in Toronto. Investigators allege stolen cars from across North America were routed through the shop. The police never suspected the scale of the operation when they arrested the husband in a theft case and got him sentenced to a two-year prison sentence. His wife continued to run the business at the time, the police said.

The gang used imaginative techniques.

Many auto-thieves use the ID numbers of wrecked vehicles for stolen vehicles. But the gang members made copies of genuine documents from the transportation ministry and handed them over to the new owners who thought they were getting legal vehicles at a bargain price.

"The car that was exported is still on file with the ministry, but now another similar-looking car that was stolen has the identical number in North America,'' Kelly was quoted as saying. "We're alleging that vehicle would then be registered in the name of a company that is unaware they even own the vehicle.''

Charged in the conspiracy are the other alleged members of the gang: Ryan David Williams, 29, of Mississauga, and Andrew Delona Muir, 31, of Toronto. They are charged with criminal organization and conspiracy to possess stolen property. And Kalid Bachawi of Montreal is charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Sukhwinder Singh, 30, of Brampton, is also charged with conspiracy to possess stolen property and obstruction of justice.

Baljit (Bob) Dhaliwal, who is in jail on an unrelated matter, is also charged with criminal conspiracy.

EARLIER FEATURE:
International Car Smuggling Ring Busted

Previous: A Journalist First...

Tell us what you think of this report