Autobody worker faces fraud charge

Public tips sparked long investigation

A Calgary autobody shop worker is at the centre of a fraud case that saw him offering to ship crash-damaged vehicles overseas so owners could collect insurance money after reporting them stolen.

Tips from the public in 2012 sparked a lengthy investigation into what police are calling organized crime.

Police say car owners came forward to say they had been solicited by a body shop employee to ship their damaged vehicles to East Africa.

Police set up a sting, in which the worker made arrangements to have a Toyota Crossrunner transported in a shipping container.

Santiago Guifarro, 44, of Calgary, was arrested before the car could be shipped.

Guifarro is charged with one count each of fraud over $5,000 and counselling to commit an indictable offence.

He has been working at the shop for several years, but it’s not known how many motorists have been approached for the scam, police say.

“We can’t say specifically how many people this has been offered to,” said Acting Staff Sgt. Mike Saunders.

But there is money to be made in the international scam, police say.

“This is something you have to have knowledge of how to do and the connections to do it, it’s not like taking a laptop to a Calgary pawnshop.”

Toyotas are favoured in secondand third-world countries because they are easy to repair and spare parts abound.

“There’s a market for these things whether they’re dismantled for parts or not. This is kind of their ad hoc part source.”

Calgary’s most often stolen vehicles are Ford trucks, Honda Civics and Dodge trucks.

Others on the list include Dodge/ Plymouth vans, Chevrolet trucks, GMC trucks, Jeep Cherokee, Dodge / Plymouth Neon, Honda Accord and Toyota Corollas.

There’s no sign that the scam is running rampant in Calgary.

The majority of Calgary’s stolen vehicles are recovered, leaving about eight per cent unaccounted for, said Saunders.

“Our investigative theory is those vehicles not recovered are those shipped to other countries,” he said.

About 40 per cent of cars and trucks stolen off Calgary streets are left unlocked and running in front of homes or stores, police say.

Guifarro is set to appear in Calgary provincial court Jan. 16.