Members of Ontario’s Serious Fraud Office have arrested two more individuals as part of an ongoing investigation into a door-to-door sales fraud that has victimized over 200 people across the province. In some instances, homeowners were defrauded to the point of losing their homes through fraudulent mortgages.
The scheme was initially uncovered in Collingwood in 2021. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) began investigating the scam and referred the case to the OPP Serious Fraud Office in 2022, which subsequently named the investigation Project Nettle.
On October 29, the OPP announced the latest arrests of a 29-year-old and a 39-year-old, both from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Austin Acheson, 29, of Woodbridge, was charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. Danielle Harrison, 39, of Mississauga, faces three counts of fraud over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. Both individuals have been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court in November.
So far, four arrests have been confirmed as part of Project Nettle. In September, Rajivan Thillainadarajah, 39, of Mississauga, and Sajjad Ahmad, 40, of Scarborough, were arrested and charged with fraud over $5,000. Thillainadarajah also faces charges related to laundering proceeds of crime, possessing proceeds of crime, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offense.
Additionally, a Canada-wide warrant has been issued for Anas Ayyoub, 23, of Toronto, Muhammad Waqar Afzal, 33, of Pickering, and Muhammad Wasiq Afzal, 28, of Scarborough. All are wanted on charges of fraud over $5,000, laundering, possession of proceeds and property obtained by crime, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offense.
The fraudulent operation began with door-to-door sales offers for services, installations, and renovations advertised as “free” due to supposed government grants or rebates. The organizers of the scam then used fraudulent agreements to register Notices of Security Interests (NOSIs), also known as liens, against victims’ homes without their knowledge. These NOSIs were later paid off through fraudulent, high-interest mortgages against the victims’ properties. In many cases, this left victims in dire financial situations, sometimes forcing them to sell their homes.
Detective Sergeant Jason Lloyd, who has been investigating the mortgage fraud since it was first discovered, explained that the scam involved secret remortgaging without the homeowners’ knowledge, coupled with poor-quality renovations. Often targeting elderly individuals, the fraudsters convinced victims they were signing service contracts, when in reality, they were signing mortgage documents.
Victims would later receive checks disguised as winnings from a fake lawsuit, which actually came from refinanced mortgages they were unaware of. This money, claimed to be from a lawsuit, would require a portion to be invested back into the home for renovations, further entangling victims in the scam.
Months or years later, the mortgages would default due to non-payment, leading lenders to seize the homes—often without the owners even realizing payments were due. In some cases, this occurred after the original owners had passed away, complicating the matter for their estates.
The OPP has conducted over 230 interviews as part of Project Nettle, providing support to victims throughout the investigation. They advise homeowners to check for NOSIs registered against their properties by purchasing a parcel register through the Ontario Land Registry Access at www.onland.ca.
If a homeowner finds an NOSI against their home, the newly enacted Homeowner Protection Act deems all consumer NOSIs registered before June 6, 2024, to be expired, allowing them to be removed through a lawyer. The Consumer Protection Act also permits withdrawal from contracts within a year if a product or service has been misrepresented, with a 10-day “cooling off period” for door-to-door sales.
The Serious Fraud Office received assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Collingwood OPP, Barrie Police, and others, alongside The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).