Two more Ontario Provincial Police officers have been charged in a long-running investigation into towing-related corruption, bringing the number to six.
The force announced the latest charges late Thursday, just hours after a former OPP inspector pleaded guilty to breach of trust for his own role in a scheme that saw officers give preferential treatment to a particular towing company.
Sergeant Terrence Reefer, 59, and Constable Roberto Visconti, both with the OPP’s Mississauga detachment, were arrested Nov. 7 and charged with breach of trust. Const. Visconti, 36, is additionally charged with obstructing a peace officer.
Both have been suspended with pay since January, 2021 – when initial arrests were made in the force’s internal probe.
Two tow-truck drivers – Douglas Polus, 49, of Vaughan, and Janan Dinkha, 44, of Mississauga – have also been charged with aiding and abetting breach of trust. The OPP did not provide details of the allegations against them or which companies they are connected to.
A Globe and Mail investigation in February, 2020, revealed that more than 50 trucks had been burned and at least four men with ties to the industry had been killed as tow-truck drivers competed for territory in the lucrative industry.
Investigations by Ottawa and Toronto police and the OPP have led to allegations that officers were giving preferential treatment to some tow-truck drivers – in some cases for personal profit.
On Thursday, retired OPP inspector Steven Grosjean pleaded guilty to breach of trust. According to the agreed statement of facts, Mr. Grosjean, who was the commander of the highway safety division’s Mississauga detachment, had befriended a tow-truck driver and would give him a heads-up on vehicles “that appeared to require a tow, or to let him know when a specific officer was doing enforcement work, and also that officer’s location on the highway.”
There was no evidence that the tow-truck driver – Sutheshkumar Sithambarpillay (also known as Steve Pillay) of Steve’s Towing, one of the featured operators on the Discovery Canada reality show Heavy Rescue: 401 – actually towed any vehicles as a result of Mr. Grosjean’s tips, but the tips gave him a potentially lucrative advantage.
Another OPP officer, Constable Bindo Showan, pleaded guilty to breach of trust in June. He too had been in regular contact with Mr. Sithambarpillay, according to the agreed statement of facts. An analysis of Const. Showan’s enforcement history found that, after he joined the force’s Highway 407 Detachment in 2016, the majority of his stunt-driving tows were conducted by either Steve’s Towing or CCC Towing, a sister company also owned by Mr. Sithambarpillay. “That resulted in at least $500,000 in towing business to Mr. Pillay.”
Mr. Sithambarpillay is charged with aiding and abetting breach of trust and secret commissions.
Two other OPP officers – constables Mohammed (Ali) Hussain and Simon Bridle – are charged with secret commissions and breach of trust. Const. Bridle is additionally charged with obtaining sexual services for consideration.
The allegations against those three have not been proven in court.
Similar internal investigations into towing-related corruption have been conducted by at least two other police services in Ontario.
In Ottawa, three constables were charged in April, 2020, but the case fell apart this March after the charges were stayed.
Toronto police Constable Ronald Joseph – whoa was running a car rental agency and tow-truck business on the side – is facing a slew of charges, accused of receiving payments and kickbacks and also providing a police radio to tow-truck drivers to help them get quick notifications of crash scenes. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Two other Toronto officers pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act for filing fraudulent insurance claims (one of them, according to the agreed facts in their plea, at the behest of Const. Joseph). They were not charged criminally.
Project Platinum, a large-scale investigation led by York Regional Police, resulted in charges against more than 30 people, including many tow-truck drivers, in May, 2020. But the case collapsed after key charges against a group of people – including one operator accused of being the ringleader of a criminal organization – were stayed in June.