2 charged, others wanted Canada-wide in door-to-door sales fraud across Ontario

Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged two people and continue searching for other suspects linked to door-to-door sales fraud, impacting more than 200 victims.

Investigators in Collingwood, Ont. launched an investigation in 2021, later evolving into Project Nettle.

Authorities learned that suspects posing as salespeople would attend the homes of older adults and vulnerable people to initiate frauds where victims “unknowingly entered into home service and/or renovation agreements at outrageous prices.”

OPP said several victims believed they were getting free services, installations, and renovations through government grants or rebates. 

The suspects would then use fake agreements to register Notice of Security Interests (NOSIs), which were paid off by suspects using high-interest mortgages against the victims’ homes. 

Investigators said that, in some cases, this forced some victims to sell their homes due to financial losses.

Extensive investigation leads to arrests

Through Project Nettle, authorities conducted more than 200 interviews and determined that the fraud incidents were “financially, emotionally, and physically devastating for many victims across the province.”

Two men, 39-year-old Rajivan Thillainadarajah of Mississauga, Ont., and 40-year-old Sajjad Ahmad of Scarborough, Ont., were arrested and charged with various fraud offences.

Thillainadarajah will appear in court on Oct. 3, 2024, with Ahmad set for a court appearance on Oct. 22, 2024.

Three other men, 23-year-old Anas Ayyoub of Toronto, 33-year-old Muhammad Waqar Afzal of Pickering, Ont., and 28-year-old Muhammad Wasiq Afzal of Scarborough, are wanted Canada-wide on multiple counts of fraud and one count each of laundering proceeds of crime.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact authorities, and those who suspect they have been the victim of fraud are urged to contact their local police.