Members of Ontario’s Serious Fraud Bureau have arrested two more people as part of a criminal investigation into a door-to-door sales scam that claimed more than 200 victims across Ontario, in some cases defrauding homeowners out of their homes with fraudulent mortgages.

The scheme was discovered in Collingwood in 2021. Collingwood Provincial Police (OPP) were investigating the scam and referred it to the Ontario Provincial Police Serious Fraud Office in 2022, which renamed the investigation Project Nettle.

Today, October 29, the Ontario Provincial Police announced two more arrests, a 29-year-old and a 39-year-old, both from the Greater Toronto Area. The arrests took place on October 15 and 17.

Austin Acheson, 29, of Woodbridge, is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000.

Danielle Harrison, 39, of Mississauga, is charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Both were released and are due in court in November to face the charges.

So far, police have confirmed four arrests in connection with Project Nettle.

In September, Ontario Provincial Police arrested and charged Rajivan Thillainadarajah, 39, of Mississauga, and Sajjad Ahmad, 40, of Scarborough. They both face charges of fraud over $5,000 and Thillainadarajah also faces charges related to laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of proceeds of crime and conspiracy to commit criminal act.

At that time, a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for Anas Ayyoub, 23, of Toronto, Muhammad Waqar Afzal, 33, of Pickering, and Muhammad Wasiq Afzal, 28, of Scarborough. All are wanted for fraud over $5,000, laundering and possession of proceeds and property obtained by crime and conspiracy to commit a criminal act.

The fraud begins with an offer for a door-to-door sale of services, installations and/or renovations advertised as “free” due to government grants or rebates.

“The organizers of this fraud then used false agreements to register notices of security (NOSI), also known as leins, against the homes of the victims without their knowledge. Later, these NOSIs were paid for the benefit of the organizers using fraudulent and high-interest mortgages on victims’ homes. In many cases, this fraud put victims in financial jeopardy and, in some cases, forced them to sell their homes. “, the police said in a press release;

Det. Sgt. Jason Lloyd explained in February 2023 that he had been investigating this mortgage fraud since it was first discovered in Collingwood, when police began investigating what at first glance appeared to be a civil matter involving a homeowner and contractor renovating the house.

Mortgage fraud was quickly identified as a multi-faceted scam involving home sales, a secret remortgaging scheme carried out without the homeowner’s knowledge, and shoddy home renovations. His victims are all over Ontario.

Unknowingly, people have taken out mortgages on their homes, only to have their homes taken away when payments are not made. The home owner often never knows that payments are due.

According to Lloyd, the victims are most often elderly people who believe they are signing a service contract to avoid paying for things like air conditioners or air purifiers.

And the scam started years ago when these air conditioners were first installed.

A door-to-door salesman will later convince a homeowner that they are paying too much for these services and offer them a way to get money back, such as through a class action lawsuit.

The owner will later speak with an attorney, often virtually, and be asked by the seller (who is off camera) to answer specific questions in a certain way.

“They believe they are signing a legal contract to default on their payments, when in reality they are signing mortgage documents,” Lloyd says. “This is a legal mortgage, but it was carried out fraudulently.”

Later, a check will arrive, disguised as winnings from the bogus lawsuit, but the money will come from the refinanced mortgage, which the homeowner still doesn’t know about.

“It’s their own money,” says Lloyd. “Then what they’re saying is the courts ruled…you won this amount of money…but the courts ruled that part of that reward money that was given to you must be invested in your home.”

They will be told that the condition of winning the case is to use part of the money to renovate their house. Home improvement contractors will charge too much, but because the amount is less than the total amount they received from the scam, homeowners will often agree.

They are given options on what they can or cannot do in the interest of a “sustainable home”, and they get a quote lower than the amount they received.

“And they’re like, ‘Wow, I did the work, I have all this money in the bank,'” Lloyd says. “But it’s their money!”

Months or even years later, the mortgage defaults due to nonpayment and the lenders repossess the house. Sometimes this can appear after a person dies and the house is in the estate but has a mortgage with high interest and late fees. In some cases, people were forced to sell their homes.

“The contract they sign is legalese, but if you read the fine print…payments are due every year and you don’t get any notice if you default,” Lloyd says. Interest rates are generally above 25 percent. “It’s scary. And we have victims like this all across Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police investigators conducted more than 230 interviews for Project Nettle, and victims of the fraud received support from victim services throughout the process.

As a result of these fraud investigations, the Ontario Provincial Police are advising the public that they can verify the NOSI registered for their home by purchasing a copy of your parcel register through access to the Ontario Land Registry. Ontario at the following address: www.onland.ca.

“If you find a NOSI against your house, the new law Landlord Protection Act considers all consumer NOSIs registered before June 6, 2024 to be expired and permits their removal by filing a request for removal of an expired NOSI through an attorney,” states the OPP press release issued in September.

“The consumer protection law also allows you to cancel a contract within one year and get a full refund if a company or individual has misrepresented a product or service. Products or services sold door-to-door also have a “cooling off period” which allows you to cancel an agreement within 10 days.”

The Serious Fraud Office has received assistance and contributions from the following services: Collingwood OPP, Barrie Police, Durham Regional Police Service, Guelph Police, Hamilton Police Service, Ottawa Police Service, Peel Regional Police, Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, Waterloo Regional Police. Service, as well as the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC).

Investigators are asking anyone with additional information regarding this fraud to call the dedicated line at 1-833-941-5865 or send an email. (email protected).

If you believe you have been the victim of another fraud, contact your local police or, anonymously, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.ontariocrimestoppers.ca. You must also go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center at 1-888-495-8501 or via their online reporting system. For resources on scams and fraud, visit anti-fraud centerantifraudcenter.ca.