Two men charged after year-long auto theft investigation
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A man convicted of helping a murderer flee Canada is now facing fraud charges after police broke up a major auto theft ring in Calgary.
Two men are facing charges in an alleged $800,000 auto theft fraud scheme involving high-end cars.
Police allege throughout 2018 the men used stolen identities to fraudulently purchase vehicles in Calgary before they replaced the vehicles’ identification numbers. It’s alleged they then resold or refinanced the same vehicles.
As a result, police say the fraud resulted in victims of identity theft being held responsible for vehicle loans taken out in their names, dealerships being unable to sell vehicles with liens on them, and legitimate vehicle owners having their rides repossessed by banks acting on the fraudulent loans.
The service said while the victims are initially held responsible for the loans, they are reversed once it’s determined to be a case of identity theft.
A total of 10 people across Canada and overseas were identified as victims of identity theft by police, who recovered cars in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and throughout the United States. Among the recoveries were two Porsche Cayennes, two Range Rovers, a Mercedes Benz G63 AMG, a Dodge Ram and an Audi A5.
While conducting a search warrant last October in the 200 block of 13th Avenue S.E., police uncovered evidence in the form of documentation and electronic devices.
The loans and transactions, police said, amounted to over $800,000 while five vehicles had a combined value of over $400,000.
Mohammed Khalid Alshanti, 37, is wanted on warrants for fraud over $5,000, and possession of a controlled substance in relation to items found during a search warrant.
Sean Alexander Airey, 27, of Calgary, was charged with one count of a global charge of fraud over $5,000 in relation to the auto theft scheme. Airey was handed a two-year sentence in March for helping murderer Nathan Gervais flee the country to Vietnam.
Crown prosecutor Stephen Johnston said Airey assisted Gervais to get a legitimate Canadian passport in the name of a mutual friend. He also drove him to an airport and transferred $4,500 to a credit card Gervais was using overseas.
“He was aware that Mr. Gervais had been charged with murder,” Johnston said.
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