CBC Marketplace investigated these movers. Now police have arrested them
CBC
Following an undercover investigation by CBC's Marketplace into a group of national moving companies accused of deceptive pricing, Toronto police have arrested two key figures and charged them with a slew of criminal offences.
The charges come after a raid Friday, as the two bosses arrived at a Scarborough address where the moving companies are based. Within moments, a large police presence descended on the premises, seizing the company's assets and recovering customers' belongings, including family heirlooms and the ashes of at least one deceased person being held by the movers.
A police press release alleges customers were "provided with a low-cost contract for moving their belongings," but once the items were loaded onto a truck, "the men would contact the customers making a demand for more money."
Customers who wanted their belongings delivered "would be forced to pay the inflated prices," often in the thousands of dollars.
Friends and business partners Cemal Ozturk and Dogan Celik, both 30, have been charged with four counts each of fraud, mischief, possession of property obtained by crime and false pretense, as well as conspiracy to commit indictable offences.
Ozturk and Celik were detained for at least 72 hours, until a bail hearing Monday. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
WATCH | A Marketplace hidden-camera move reveals company's late change in pricing:
In an email statement at the time of the Marketplace investigation, Celik said his companies value customers and treat them with respect, and that his companies will be "doing a full review of all of our operations and procedures to ensure that the companies are following these important company values."
Despite several attempts by phone, registered mail, email and social media, Ozturk could not be reached for comment at the time of the Marketplace investigation. CBC has been unable to identify Ozturk and Celik's lawyer.
The findings of the police investigation parallel what Marketplace producers heard from customers, including during a hidden-camera segment with one of the companies connected to the two men.
A Marketplace producer posing as a customer was told her move would cost vastly more than originally quoted. This was only revealed to the undercover producer once the movers had left with her belongings.
Police say Ozturk and Celik operated a series of moving companies offering services across Canada, changing names often as bad reviews would accumulate. Their businesses included O'Canada Movers, Roadway Moving and Storage Inc., SafeBound Moving and Storage Inc., Canadian Principal Movers, All You Can Move, Right on Track Moving, New Vision Moving, Greenway Moving and 12282569 Canada Inc.
It is alleged customers who were unable to pay the inflated prices had their belongings held in an undisclosed warehouse, incurring storage fees.
"It is definitely the scam of the season," Nancy Irvine, president of the Canadian Association of Movers (CAM), said in the spring. Her organization receives complaints from the public about moving companies and different types of alleged scams.
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