Three on the run after defrauding over 200 Ontario homeowners
Ontario police are searching for three suspects involved in a complex mortgage scam that has left more than 200 homeowners across the province defrauded, many losing their homes without realizing it.
The scam, which originated in Collingwood and has spread throughout the province, involves door-to-door sales tactics, fraudulent remortgaging schemes, and substandard home renovations.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have already arrested Rajivan Thillainadarajah, 39, from Mississauga, and Sajjad Ahmad, 40, from Scarborough. They are facing multiple charges, including fraud over $5,000.
Thillainadarajah is also charged with laundering proceeds of crime. Canada-wide warrants have been issued for three more suspects: Anas Ayyoub, 23, of Toronto; Muhammad Waqar Afzal, 33, of Pickering; and Muhammad Wasiq Afzal, 28, of Scarborough.
They are wanted on charges of fraud, conspiracy, and laundering proceeds of crime, according to the OPP’s addendum showed.
Multi-faceted scam
The scam first came to light in 2021 in Collingwood, where what appeared to be a minor civil dispute over home renovations led to a much larger investigation. Detective Sergeant Jason Lloyd, who has been leading the case since its inception, said that the scheme was far more intricate than it initially seemed.
The fraud involved door-to-door salespeople offering homeowners deals to lower payments on services like air conditioning units or air purifiers. But instead of helping homeowners save money, they tricked them into signing mortgage documents.
“They believe they’re signing a legal contract to get out of payments, when in fact they’re actually signing mortgage documents,” Lloyd said. “It is a legal mortgage, but it’s been done fraudulently.”
The victims, mostly elderly homeowners, were then led to believe they were part of a class-action lawsuit and that they would receive compensation. However, the compensation they received was actually a portion of the money from their new mortgages, which they were unaware of.
“It’s their own money,” Lloyd explained. “Then what they say is that the courts have ruled, ‘You’ve won this sum of money,’ but the courts have ruled that part of this reward money that you’ve been given, needs to be invested into your house.”
Fake lawsuits
The scam didn’t stop there. After receiving the so-called "lawsuit winnings," the victims were told that part of the money needed to be reinvested into their homes. They were pressured into signing up for home renovations, which were carried out poorly and at inflated prices.
“They’re thinking, ‘wow, I got the work done, I got all this cash in the bank,’ but it’s their cash,” Lloyd said.
Meanwhile, fraudsters were using fake agreements to place Notices of Security Interest (NOSIs), similar to liens, on the victims’ homes without their knowledge. These NOSIs were later paid off using high-interest fraudulent mortgages.
As homeowners failed to make payments they didn’t know existed, the mortgages defaulted, and some lost their homes altogether.
In some cases, the fraud only came to light after a homeowner had died, leaving the property to heirs burdened by debt and forced to sell their homes.
Public warning
The scam has impacted homeowners across the province, particularly the elderly. The interest rates on the fraudulent mortgages were as high as 25%, making it impossible for victims to keep up.
“It’s scary. And we have victims like this all across Ontario,” said Lloyd.
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To date, the OPP has conducted more than 230 interviews as part of Project Nettle, the investigation into the scam. Victims were offered support from victim services as they navigated the devastating financial impact.
In response to the widespread fraud, the OPP is advising homeowners to check for NOSIs registered against their property. This can be done by purchasing a copy of the parcel register through the Ontario Land Registry Access at www.onland.ca.
The OPP also highlighted new legal protections under the Homeowner Protection Act, which allows for the removal of consumer NOSIs registered before June 6, 2024. In addition, the Consumer Protection Act provides the right to withdraw from contracts within one year if misrepresentation is involved, and includes a "cooling-off period" for door-to-door sales agreements.
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