3 GTA men charged in connection with attempted ‘dirty oil’ scam

An Ontario Provincial Police shoulder patch is seen in this undated file photo.

Three men from the Greater Toronto Area have been arrested after allegedly trying to trick a resident into selling their vehicle for cheap in what was believed to be an attempted “dirty oil” scam.

Ontario Provincial Police said the incident occurred on Feb. 7 in Selwyn Township, around 15 kilometres northeast of Peterborough.

The resident told police that they listed their vehicle for sale online and were later contacted by an interested buyer.

Three people later attended the resident’s home and looked over the car before requesting that they take it for a test drive.

“After returning from a short drive, the suspects quickly pointed out oil all over the engine compartment as well as from the exhaust pipe. The suspects advised that the vehicle needed an excess amount of work to repair it but would still purchase it but for a much lower price than what was being asked,” police said in a news release on Friday.

The resident turned down the initial offer, but the trio persisted in giving lowball offers, police said. That prompted the resident to tell the three that their vehicle was no longer for sale.

Shortly after, the resident called the police, who later stopped a vehicle matching the description of the one being driven by the suspects.

The three occupants were arrested. Police said the driver was unable to give a driver’s licence or insurance for the vehicle. In addition, the plates attached were not registered to the vehicle, police said.

“The vehicle that was being driven had recently been purchased and was associated with a similar occurrence in another region,” they added.

In a news release on Friday, the suspects were identified as 31-year-old Marius Zorila from Pickering, 26-year-old Constantin Tanase from Scarborough and 22-year-old Michael Tanase from Ajax.

The three have been charged with fraud over $5,000, mischief under $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Zorila is facing additional charges of failure to surrender a driver’s licence, failure to have an insurance card, and failure to display two plates while driving a motor vehicle.

Police said the three were released with conditions to appear before a Peterborough court on March 10.

A recent Consumer Alert report highlighted the scam, which led to one Ontario man selling his car for $1,000. He originally listed it for $7,000.

Police are urging residents to remain vigilant and report any frauds to them at 1-888-310-1122.