ALEXANDRIA, Ontario – Last week the OPP and their Quebec counterparts, the SQ conducted raids across Quebec and Ontario against an alleged organized crime ring centred around the metal recycling industry.
In Alexandria, a warrant was obtained by the OPP to search Kenyon Auto Centre on County Rd. 45 on Thursday, March 16.
In total, the operation, dubbed Opération Nobélium, took nearly two years to come to fruition.
"It was 21 people, between the ages of 35 and 60, who were arrested or implicated," the SQ statement said.
Over the past 19 months the criminal organization allegedly used these metal recycling businesses to defraud the Quebec government of $17 million in taxes.
"This fraud allowed organized corporations to have large amounts of cash to buy metal in exchange for invoices of convenience from the criminal organization," explained the SQ.
"The use of these shell companies controlled by the organization makes it possible to evade the taxes on these transactions and to reduce the taxable incomes of the intermediate or accommodated companies. The equivalent amount of taxes thus evaded is retained as a profit by the organization, "added the SQ.
The criminal organization allegedly used companies in different jurisdictions, like Kenyon Auto Centre in Ontario, to complicate their tax process and hide their money in the red tape.
The SQ indicated that the company at the heart of this investigation was based in Ontario while operating primarily in Quebec.
In total more than 150 officers from different organizations were involved in this investigation.
