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Fadi Zeto, 32, of Mississauga, faces more than 80 charges related to the sale of stolen vehicles in Toronto. (Photo: Toronto Police Service)

More than 80 charges have been laid against a Mississauga car salesman after police say he helped sell more than $2 million worth of stolen vehicles from a Toronto dealership.

The Toronto Police Service says the charges stem from an investigation called Project Warden, which led officers to investigate auto sales made by salespeople working in Toronto.

Police said they discovered two sellers were selling stolen cars to customers who thought they were buying legitimate used cars.

Investigators say the stolen vehicles were purchased from numbered companies using dealer funds.

Some companies were owned by the defendant, who created false sales contracts using “clean” vehicle identification numbers, also known as VINs.

Dealers also altered Carfax reports to match fraudulent vehicle information to give buyers “the appearance of a legitimate purchase.”

“A stolen vehicle would then be delivered to the buyer in what appeared to be a legitimate vehicle purchase,” police said of the scam.

But unbeknownst to the buyer, the VIN they received did not match the vehicle, and some vehicles were falsely registered to people not listed on the sales documents, police said.

In total, some $2,188,000 worth of stolen vehicles were sold and police say they recovered more than 100 stolen vehicles during the crackdown. A 32-year-old man from Mississauga and a 35-year-old man from Barrie were arrested and faced a total of 176 charges as a result of Project Warden.

Fadi Zeto, 32, of Mississauga, has been charged with more than 80 offenses, including 20 counts of forgery, 20 counts of forging documents and 20 counts of fraud over $5,000. He was due to appear in court on October 22.

Harris Bocknek, 35, of Barrie, has been charged with more than 90 counts, including 22 counts of forgery, 22 counts of totally forged document and 22 counts of fraud over $5,000. He is due in court on December 17.

This complex sales scam has police reminding buyers to be careful when purchasing a used vehicle. Police say to obtain your own vehicle history reports when purchasing a used car, as repossessed or stolen vehicles will often have discrepancies in their vehicle history.

Anyone with information about these incidents can contact TPS by calling 416-808-2222. Anonymous tips can also be provided to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477 or visiting www.ontariocrimestoppers.ca.

When you contact Crime Stoppers, you remain anonymous, you never have to testify, and you could receive a $2,000 reward.

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