Court records shed light on charges in $3M auto theft bust

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Two men charged following a six-month auto-theft investigation are accused of stealing vehicles from a Southwestern Ontario classic car dealer and threatening the owner, according to court documents.

The OPP launched a probe in late 2023 after a Lambton County resident reported multiple vehicles stolen, leading investigators to search a property in Stirling, a community north of Belleville, where they seized 45 vehicles, including classic cars, worth $3 million on May 14, police said.

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Robert Bradshaw, 54, and Gary Leblanc, 55, both of Stirling, are charged with motor vehicle theft of more than $5,000, fraud of more than $5,000, using forged documents and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, police said. Leblanc also is charged with uttering threats.

Court documents allege the men stole “numerous motor vehicles” from Larry Grogan between Jan. 1, 2020, and May 9, 2024, and used “deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means” to fraudulently obtain replacement ownerships.

Grogan is the owner of Grogan Classics, a car dealer in Watford, a community east of Sarnia, that buys and sells vehicles. He wasn’t available for comment Thursday.

Bradshaw is accused of uttering threats to cause bodily harm to Grogan in September, the court documents say.

Leblanc and Bradshaw were arrested on May 15. Bradshaw spent a week in custody before he was released on bail after he pledged $30,000 and his two sureties pledged a combined $15,000 if he violated his release conditions, the documents say.

Those conditions require him to live with one of his sureties in Belleville, not communicate or go near his co-accused or the complainant and not possess any weapons. Bradshaw also cannot drive a vehicle unless it is registered in his name and he can’t have any payment cards or cheques that aren’t registered in his name. His case returns to court Sept. 9.

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Leblanc was released on an undertaking, a document created by either a court or police that places the charged person under certain conditions, that prohibits him from contacting Bradshaw or the complainant. His case returns to court Aug. 8.

Det.-Insp. Scott Wade, head of the OPP’s organized crime, towing and auto-theft team, previously said the recovered stolen vehicles will be returned to their owners, which could be an insurance company if a claim has been paid out already.

Wade called the investigations that led to the vehicle seizures – 16 of them confiscated as the proceeds of crime – long and complex.

The OPP-led auto theft and towing team was created in 2023 to identify, disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups involved in stealing vehicles. The joint forces operation is made up of officers from 10 police forces, including London, and other law enforcement agencies.

Classic cars are a small fraction of the 30,000 vehicles stolen in Ontario annually, but the vehicles are valuable and difficult for police to track because they don’t have as many identification features as newer models, experts say.

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Police forces across Canada have launched a series of high-profile crackdowns on auto theft rings, warning that organized crime groups are increasingly involved in the crime and the stolen vehicles are often shipped overseas to countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America.

In April, police announced the results of a three-month investigation that involved searching hundreds of shipping containers at the port of Montreal, a logistical hub long used by organized crime groups like the mafia and bikers to move stolen goods and drugs. Investigators searched 390 shipping containers at the port between Dec. 12, 2023, and March 29, recovering 598 vehicles stolen from Ontario, including some from Southwestern Ontario, and Quebec.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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