Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
BARRIE — Police have arrested two suspects and recovered a skid steer loader stolen by using a fake bank draft from a Glengarry County business.
The Kubota skid steer turned up in King City, north of Toronto, as investigators seized more than $1 million in construction equipment and vehicles— all acquired with phony cheques or bank drafts — from five properties across the province. Police forces in Barrie and South Simcoe led the action, executing search warrants in Springwater Township, Toronto and Havelock on June 3.
Barrie Police say that 26-year-old Olivia Osborne, of Toronto, and 32-year-old Farshid Ayon, of Springwater Township, face multiple criminal charges. They’re both accused of theft over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, motor vehicle theft, fraud over $5,000, uttering forged documents, identity theft and Identity fraud. Osborne was already released when police announced the charges on June 11, while a bail hearing was still pending for Ayon.
“Some midweek good news!” Jackpine Equipment owner Patrick Binette of Williamstown declared in a Facebook post after hearing of the arrests.
Binette accepted a $108,000 bank draft as payment for the skid steer on March 11 but the bank pulled the money out of his account a week later when it realized the draft was fraudulent.
The skid steer stolen from Jackpine Equipment in Williamstown, in a photo snapped at Scarborough construction site. The unit has not been recovered.
“It seems like it was stolen (bank draft) paper that they printed fake information on,” Binette told Farmers Forum after the incident. The male buyer used somebody else’s identity on the bank draft, backed up with a stolen driver’s licence that was doctored to show the thief’s photo instead of the original owner’s.
By the time the fraud was discovered, the skid steer was long gone. Insurance ultimately reimbursed Binette for the loss.
Binette’s video stills of the man and woman who allegedly pulled off the scam at the South Glengarry location, as well as a scan of the man’s photo ID, appear to match photos of both accused recently publicized by police.
Barrie Police corporate communications Peter Leon confirmed that the Kubota skid steer recovered in King City is the unit stolen from Binette.
Leon said that additional charges are likely for Ayon and Osborne as the investigation continues.
He said that all of the recovered equipment was fraudulently acquired using either fake cheques or bank drafts, targeting machinery advertised by individuals on either Facebook marketplace or Kijiji. As part of the ruse, the two accused posed as a couple when checking out equipment, subtly building trust with sellers and reducing suspicions, according to Leon.
The amount of construction equipment recovered was “amazing,” the police officer said, and followed months of investigation. He estimated the number of recovered pieces at more than 15 and said two police yards were needed to park them all. “Our tactical garage area looked like a construction zone,” he marvelled.
Also seized were three stolen vehicles being used by the accused — a silver Chevy pickup and two black Land Rovers.
A number of high-end watches were also confiscated, as were 45 firearms and ammunition. A 52-year-old unnamed Toronto man faces a number of criminal charges in connection with the firearms.
