Four people, including a ServiceOntario employee, are facing charges in connection with the resale of stolen, re-vinned cars.
Ontario Provincial Police say they began an investigation in March 2026 into the fraudulent registration of stolen vehicles.
“The investigation revealed that documents required in Ontario’s vehicle registration process were being improperly obtained and misused,” investigators said in a release on Thursday.
“These documents were then used to facilitate giving stolen vehicles new Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN), allowing them to be registered with the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), sold and driven on public roads as legitimate vehicles.”
Re-vinning is the process of altering or replacing a vehicle’s VIN in order to conceal its identity and make it appear legitimate. It allows stolen vehicles to be resold to unsuspecting buyers or used for criminal purposes.
Police executed search warrants on residences in Maple, Brampton and Kitchener, recovering six stolen vehicles as well as electronic devices.
Sonia Cianfaran, 28, of Vaughan, has been charged with breach of trust and trafficking property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Sarvathan Balasubramaniam, 32, of Brampton, Gajan Karunanithy, 34, of Brampton, and Jose Lozano, 36, of Kitchener have all been charged with using, dealing, and acting on forged documents and trafficking property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Investigators did not identify the ServiceOntario location that was part of the investigation.
All four were released from custody and are scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court to answer the charges on June 12.