Owner of Winnipeg car-recycling company accused of stealing, damaging cars for scrap sales

The owner of a Winnipeg car-recycling company is accused of being behind a series of vehicle thefts in the Transcona neighbourhood earlier this month.

In a statement of claim filed with the Manitoba Court of the King's Bench on July 22, provincial criminal property forfeiture director Lisa Bryce alleges Cory Ronnie James Fincaryk, owner of Winnipeg Auto Recycling, stole and damaged multiple vehicles in order to sell the scrap for profit. 

Fincaryk was arrested on July 16. He was charged with nine counts of vehicle theft and five counts of mischief over $5,000. 

The filing alleges one of Fincaryk's employees was also arrested. The employee is not named as a defendant in the statement of claim, which has not yet been tested in court.

According to the filing, Fincaryk and employees of Winnipeg Auto Recycling used company tow trucks to steal vehicles, taking them back to a property in East St. Paul where they would smash windows, dent body panels and use spray paint to mark them with WAR — an acronym for Winnipeg Auto Recycling. 

"The purpose of damaging the stolen vehicles in this manner was to make them appear as scrap vehicles," Bryce wrote in the claim. 

Fincaryk's company then sold the badly-damaged vehicles to Industrial Metals, a metal recycling facility in the city's east end, the claim states.

Industrial Metals is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit and no wrongdoing is alleged on the company's part. 

Teah Sawa, whose minivan was towed from outside her home, said the vehicle was essential to her routine as a single mother to two children with special needs. She used it to take the children to and from medical appointments. 

The van was really special to her children, too, who decorated it with decals to make it their own, she said. 

Manitoba Public Insurance told her the van was destroyed and sitting in a lot on Plessis Road. Sawa took her kids to see the vehicle and they held "a little van funeral," she said.

"The roof was down to the floor. It was completely crushed. It looked more like a hotdog than a van," Sawa said. 

She's now driving a rental vehicle until she can find an affordable replacement. 

According to the statement of claim, Winnipeg Auto Recycling sold 62 cars for $40,000 and more than 1.9 million units of scrap metal for $330,000 to Industrial Metals between June and July. 

In the legal filing, Bryce said the forfeiture unit has started proceedings to seize some of Fincaryk's assets, including a residential property in Transcona, funds on deposit in multiple bank accounts, two tow trucks, one pickup truck, and a trailer. 

The claim also names the Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank as defendants, as Bryce said Fincaryk may hold personal and/or business accounts there. 

The lawsuit said Computershare Trust Company of Canada facilitates the mortgage on the Transcona residence and is also listed as a defendant, as is TD Auto Finance, which has a registered interest in the trailer.

Bryce is requesting an interim order to preserve Fincaryk's property for 60 days so that it cannot be sold, transferred or damaged. 

Sawa said she was shocked to see that a neighbour is alleged to have stolen her vehicle. 

"It's surprising to hear that somebody from this area was stealing from their own community like that. It kind of hits a little bit closer to home," she said. 

She hopes car theft victims will be able to join the civil suit against Fincaryk and Winnipeg Auto Recycling.

Auto recycler accused of using tow trucks to steal vehicles

1 day ago

Duration 2:00

Winnipeg police have arrested two people in connection with a scheme they say involved an auto recycling company stealing vehicles off the street for scrap metal. According to court documents, at least nine vehicles were taken between July 2 and July 14 in Winnipeg.