Peel Police charge five as they probe 29 incidents of alleged extortion targeting South Asian community

Open this photo in gallery:

Police in the Toronto region have charged five people and are investigating 29 incidents of alleged extortion, part of a “disturbing trend” that officials say has terrorized the South Asian community in several Canadian municipalities.

Peel Regional Police, along with the Ontario Provincial Police, announced Wednesday that they laid two dozen charges and are also investigating incidents where businesses have been fired upon. Peel is located west of Toronto and includes Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon.

Police in Peel, Edmonton and British Columbia’s Lower Mainland have reported dozens of cases of alleged extortion, which have also included reports of threatening letters to businesses demanding protection money. The mayors of Brampton and Surrey, B.C., have asked the federal government for help to protect their South Asian residents, while police in Edmonton alleged that a “criminal network” in India is behind extortion attempts in that city.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said there have also been similar reports in the United States.

The force set up a 23-member Extortion Investigative Task Force at the end of December to investigate such threats, which resulted in the charges announced on Wednesday.

“Threats of violence, or violence to obtain money or any sort of gain, creates a significant fear that ripples beyond the intended victim,” Chief Duraiappa told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

“We’ve got an entire business community that is fearful because they’ve seen what happened to maybe one or two or you know, a larger number of individuals. So it is a significant issue.”

Police said they executed a search warrant on Jan. 24 in Brampton relating to an alleged extortion of a Caledon business owner, which resulted in four people being charged. Gagan Ajit Singh, 23, is facing 10 charges, including extortion, arson and firearm offences. Anmoldeep Singh, 23, was also charged with weapons offences, as were Hashmeet Kaur, 25, and 21-year-old Iymanjot Kaur.

On Jan. 26, Arundeep Thind, 39, was charged with extortion in a separate incident, in which a 32-year-old victim allegedly received a phone call and threatening messages on WhatsApp demanding large sums of money, police said.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Superintendent Shelley Thompson, who leads the Peel task force, said police are investigating 29 extortions that date back to November, 2023. Of those 29 incidents, nine involved shootings with multiple rounds being fired, she said, adding that in most cases, the premises were not occupied and there were no reported injuries.

She said the extortion attempts primarily target South Asian-owned businesses, including restaurants and bakeries, trucking and transport companies, used car dealerships and jewellery stores.

Victims have been contacted by phone, she said, as well as online messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, where perpetrators demand money under threat of violence. Demands are made for victims to pay in Canadian currency or Indian rupees.

Supt. Thompson said Peel police have “open lines” of communication with law enforcement agencies in India, but that there are no official ties to that country at this stage.

“We’re still trying to sift through stuff to see if there’s a connection to India. Right now with the information that we have, that we are working with, there is not,” she told reporters.

Police forces across Canada probe string of extortion cases allegedly linked to Indian gangster

She added that people are scared to come forward, and urged them to call a hotline set up to report extortion.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown called the charges “a big relief for our community” and sends a message that threats will not be tolerated. He said he’s received phone calls from terrified business owners and families “expressing a complete level of desperation and dismay” about residences or businesses being shot at or set afire.

“This was terrorizing our community, this was terrorizing the South Asian community,” he said.

Mr. Brown and his counterpart, Brenda Locke, of Surrey, B.C., previously asked Ottawa to step in and offer help including connecting with police forces in other countries, such as India, so that Canadian investigators can track the source of extortions.

He said Wednesday that both Ontario Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc have reached out and he is encouraged by the co-operation across the country.

Tim Warmington, a spokesperson for Public Safety Canada, said intimidation, harassment or targeting specific individuals or communities is “unacceptable,” but said police are best placed to speak to investigations and activities related to the allegations.

Last month, the Edmonton Police Service said it was investigating 27 incidents in the South Asian community since October, including five extortions, 15 arsons and seven firearms offences, with an estimated $9-million in property damage related to the crimes.

The incidents include a house fire and the drive-by shooting of a home occupied by a family with children. No one was injured but bullets were found inside the home, police said. The force does not believe the incidents are related to any allegations in B.C. and Ontario.

Cheryl Voordenhout, an Edmonton police spokesperson, said Wednesday that the force is organizing a community town hall on Thursday evening for the South Asian community.

Staff Sergeant Kris Clark, a spokesperson for RCMP E Division in B.C., said the force is aware of Peel’s investigative update and reports of similar types of incidents in Abbotsford, Surrey, West Vancouver and White Rock.

“We are looking at whether these cases are linked and there has been significant co-ordination under way here in BC to advance these investigations,” he said in a statement. “While we can’t speak to the specifics at this time, progress has been made.”