High-end vehicles, seemingly legitimate big-ticket sales, and activity related to organized crime. Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) and Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) investigators discovered all of this and more when uncovering a sophisticated Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) cloning operation in Manitoba.
In February 2024, investigators from MPI’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and WPS’ Commercial Stolen Auto Unit (CSAU) recognized that an individual was using numerous people known to him to register out-of-province vehicles in order to initiate ownership of the vehicle in the Province of Manitoba. When the investigators looked closer at what was occurring, they discovered that at least one of the vehicles had a cloned VIN, meaning that the vehicle being registered in Manitoba had the same VIN as a vehicle of the same make, model, and colour in a different jurisdiction.
The team continued to monitor the importation of used vehicles into the province. They worked together in an operation dubbed Project Buyer Bee Aware. Using innovative technology created by the SIU team to analyze all the VIN and vehicle data, the teams identified an individual operating across provinces using Manitoba as a pipeline to clean and “wash” high-end stolen vehicles, meaning they would make them appear as if they were properly owned to then be sold by one individual in Winnipeg.
“This was a highly sophisticated operation working on many different levels,” said WPS Superintendent Cam Mackid. “Our investigators did an incredible job piecing this together with MPI and disrupting this ring and this criminal network.”
Mohamad Kasem, 23, from Winnipeg, faces 68 charges. Investigators discovered that Kasem sold vehicles to car dealerships, through online platforms, and out of a business. On February 22, 2024, CSAU attended one of the dealerships and confirmed the vehicles sold to them by Kasem were stolen from Ontario between January 2021 and January 2024, given new VINs, and then presented to the dealerships as legitimate. The dealerships sold several of these vehicles to customers. All the vehicles, including those sold to customers, were seized and had an estimated insured value of more than $1 million.
“What MPI and WPS have done here is protect Manitobans – from auto theft, from organized crime, and from future financial implications,” said Minister of Justice and Attorney General Matt Wiebe. “I’m impressed with and grateful for the work being done to combat a serious problem in Manitoba. Auto theft claim numbers rose by 48 per cent from 2017-2023, and our government is committed to tackling this issue. Auto theft is a complex crime that requires many agencies to work together, and I see that happening here.”
On April 17, 2024, search warrants were executed at a residence in the 100 block of St. Martin Boulevard in Winnipeg as well as a commercial business in the 200 block of St. Jean Marc Road in the RM of Springfield. These warrants led to the discovery of equipment and materials required to alter a vehicle’s VIN.
The investigation continues.
