Car rental company steals back its own vehicles in Mississauga: police

Nearly two dozen cars worth $1.6 million have been recovered and two men have been arrested after police say a Mississauga rental car company stole back its own vehicles shortly after renting them out in order to collect insurance money.

Commercial auto crime investigators with Peel Regional Police spearheaded the probe that began in 2023 with officers looking into a car rental agency in Mississauga.

“The owner/operator allegedly possessed a number of re-vinned (vehicles) that were being rented to clients while also fraudulently registering these vehicles through false companies and corporations,” police said in a news release on Friday.

“During the rental contract, the rental vehicle would be stolen from residential driveways, causing the renter’s insurance to pay the rental agency. These vehicles were later identified to have been re-registered and re-vinned repeatedly by the rental company.”

“Re-vinning” involves changing the vehicle identification number of a stolen vehicle to a fraudulently fabricated number to hide the fact it is stolen.

Police recovered 22 stolen and re-vinned vehicles valued at $1.6 million as a result of their investigation.

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Police said they were aided in their probe by various insurance companies, the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council and local municipal bylaw officers.

Tamer El Gamal, 46, of Mississauga, is charged with:

• possession of property obtained by crime (22 counts)
• trafficking in property obtained by crime
• altering/tampering with vehicle identification number (nine counts)
• fraud over $5,000 (nine counts)

Mohamed El Gamal, 38, of Mississauga, is charged with:

• possession of property obtained by crime (nine counts)
• altering/tampering with vehicle identification number (nine counts)
• fraud over $5,000 (nine counts)

Both will appear in Brampton court at a later date.

The investigation continues.

Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to call police at 905-453-3311, ext. 3313,  or Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.