Documents link 2 Montreal rental car companies to millions in luxury car theft, fraud

A group of Quebec business owners, including the owner of two Montreal-based car rental companies, are allegedly behind an elaborate criminal network involved in millions of dollars worth of fraud and car theft.

The allegations appear in civil court documents filed this month. The documents describe Yaacoub Sarraf, a businessman who is said to split his time between Montreal and Dubai, as the head of an organization that obtained millions of dollars worth of olive oil, surgical masks and, notably, luxury cars, through fraud and theft. 

A multi-year Montreal police investigation into the group has also identified Habib Coudsi, the owner of Citycar rental and Coudicar rental, two car rental companies, as a key part of the network, according to the court documents. 

Coudsi allegedly arranged the transport of stolen and fraudulently obtained vehicles to the Port of Montreal, where they were shipped overseas, and used his companies to launder the proceeds. 

The documents detail how Montreal police began investigating the alleged fraud network in June 2021. On April 18, 2023, after a lengthy surveillance operation, officers raided the suspected headquarters of the network: a nondescript garage just off of Highway 40 in the Saint-Michel neighbourhood — home to Coudsi’s car rental businesses.

There, police found multiple car key programming machines, which they say are often associated with car theft.

The garage was allegedly used for storing stolen or fraudulently obtained goods, supervising operations to transport stolen vehicles to the Port of Montreal and as a location to plan and co-ordinate the forging of documents.

Also on April 18, 2023, officers raided Coudsi’s home, a mansion on Gouin Boulevard in the city's Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, purchased for $2.2 million in 2022. There, they found cash and luxury goods, including a Rolex watch. The house, the cash and the luxury goods were proof, according to the court documents, that Coudsi was living well beyond his reported income.

The court documents from which the allegations stem are tied to civil lawsuits filed by Quebec’s attorney general asking for the confiscation of the Gouin mansion, Coudsi’s Rolex and cash, and the Saint-Michel garage, arguing they were either obtained with proceeds of crime or used as an instrument of crime.

The allegations have not yet been tested in court. Neither Coudsi nor Sarraf have been charged criminally. They have not yet filed a defense or indicated whether they intend to contest the lawsuits. 

Coudsi’s lawyer, Marc Labelle, said Coudsi had not yet been served with the lawsuit and was unaware of its contents.

“He has no comment to make. He has not seen it. He has received nothing,” he said. 

“There have been no charges laid against him.”

CBC was unable to find a contact for Sarraf or his lawyer.