Police shut down Oakville “re-vinning” operation

Peel Region Police have arrested three men suspected of running a “chop shop” and the theft and “re-vinning” of vehicles in the Greater Toronto Area.In the fall of 2002, two stolen vehicles were recovered by police from a business on Royal Windsor Drive in Mississauga, Ontario. This led police to Woodchester Auto Sales in Oakville, Ontario, where police allege the three men were “re-vinning” stolen vehicles to sell to unsuspecting buyers or ship to the U.S. for sale. Re-vinning involves replacing the previous vehicle identification number (VIN) with a new, fraudulent number.Police have currently identified more than 30 vehicles in the GTA that may have come from the chop shop, but continue to investigate with the expectation of finding several hundred vehicles before the case is closed.The recovered vehicles, which include mid-value cars such as the Dodge Caravan and Pontiac Sunfire, have been returned to the insurance companies who paid out on the stolen vehicle claims.Charged are Nazeer Khan, 47, of Brampton, Rafzik Khan, 39, of Oakville and Raymond Khan, 41, of Mississauga, each facing several counts of possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit possession of property obtained by crime. They were set to appear in Brampton’s Ontario Court of Justice on March 28, 2003 for a bail hearing.