This is the third in a five-part CTV W5 series on re-vinning, a lucrative tactic by car thieves to disguise stolen cars for sale to unwitting drivers.
A W5 investigation is shedding light on how at least one corrupt employee of the agency that licenses vehicles in Ontario has been helping thieves steal them — in one case, bragging she could help a driver avoid a highway toll and even driving a stolen car herself.
That employee, a woman named Tonisha Baird who worked at a Service Ontario in Brampton, just west of Toronto, was convicted of conspiring with the director of a nearby auto body shop, Eric Johnson, in a scheme that the court heard involved people as far away as Saskatchewan.
‘It never comes back to you’
Baird was called “my girl” by Johnson in intercepted phone calls that were entered into evidence in the case. In another call, Baird bragged she could disguise any vehicle within the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s system.
“Let’s say for example you’re on the 407, you don’t pay the bills, and it never comes back to you,” Baird is heard saying.
The court heard that of the three stolen cars she was found guilty of trafficking, one of them was a $45,000 Audi SUV she paid just $162 for in taxes.
It was the same vehicle she was driving when she was arrested.
As shocking as that case is, there are likely many more that are going undiscovered, said Mike Fehr, who was once on the Edmonton police’s car theft unit, and now works at a company that examines cars to discover if their numbers match.
“I would say that this is all across the country,” he said. “We have stolen vehicles that are all across the country, continually. It’s mobile.”
The investigation into Baird, Johnson and others, named Project Myra by the Ontario Provincial Police, followed clues from the Greater Toronto Area to Sudbury – and even Saskatchewan.
Officers were called to a car theft back in 2021, when five men forced their way into a home just east of Toronto, demanding the resident’s keys and firing a shot into the ground.
A video of that night shows the group rushing up the stairs at about 1:45 am, and then rushing away.
Some of the masked men go into a waiting car in the street, while others jump into a $400,000 Bentley Bentayga SUV that is sitting in the driveway.
The thieves turn the keys, the SUV’s lights turn on, and the car drives off. No one was hurt.
The hunt for the thieves led investigators to a company in Sudbury, Ont.
That business was registering cars, even though an OPP report filed in court said officers concluded “this business does not exist.”
Some of those cars were discovered on a lot just north of Toronto, belonging to yet another company, this one called Prexco.
Business owner accused of being mastermind
W5 stopped into that address, looking for Prexco’s director, Eric Johnson. A worker put someone on the phone, but he didn’t have much to say.
“Listen, I don’t have time for this,” he said.
Officers visited that property in 2022, recording video as they searched through the warehouses littered with car parts.
They accused Johnson of being the mastermind of a scheme to disguise stolen cars from Land Rovers to Porsches, changing their unique vehicle identification numbers, or VINs, so he could sell them.
Police alleged he disguised a Honda Accord by registering a fake car in Saskatchewan. And police found many plates relating to that province in their search.
W5 caught up with Johnson himself outside the Brampton courthouse. We asked him if he had anything to say – he silently continued inside – though an associate of his tried to block our camera with his hand.
One source close to the investigation said authorities are exploring whether someone on the inside like Baird could have been involved in arranging paperwork for any stolen vehicles that were sold at a Scarborough dealership whose salespeople are also facing charges.
That’s not the only case – civil forfeiture records describe how two employees at a Service Ontario in Scarborough pushed fake VINs through government databases.
A search of their homes revealed reams of car registration documents and licence plates, the civil forfeiture documents say.
The civil forfeiture proceeding is Ontario’s attempt to recover some assets allegedly used to commit crimes. The employees are still facing charges that have not yet been to court.
Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Prabmeet Sakaria, said the province has introduced new legislation that would make it harder for anyone to illegally re-VIN a car.
“We have no appetite to have any mercy on those who are stealing these vehicles,” he said at an unrelated news conference.
Baird and Johnson were convicted in March, but are still awaiting sentencing.
NEXT: How insurance investigators uncovered the fraud behind a $1 million car that was not what it seemed.
For tips about auto theft, or any other story, please email Jon Woodward.
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