Man charged with arranging shootings in Toronto police corruption probe denied bail
CBC
A Richmond Hill, Ont., man who is accused of arranging several shootings connected with a major police corruption and organized crime investigation was denied bail Friday in Oshawa, Ont.
Elwyn Satanowsky, 34, will remain in custody on a dozen charges for allegedly arranging seven shootings at three homes in Vaughan, Ont., between September 2025 and early last month, along with indirectly accessing a Toronto police computer system.
His lawyer, Sonya Shikhman, declined to comment on the bail decision.
Satanowsky is one of 19 civilians charged in Project South, a months-long corruption probe led by York Regional Police. Seven Toronto cops and one retired constable have also been charged in the investigation, which began last June when York police officers uncovered an alleged conspiracy to kill a senior corrections officer at Toronto South Detention Centre.
None of the charges have been tested in court.
Last month, York police Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan confirmed that Satanowsky has an affiliation with the towing industry connected to Project South. Hogan also alleged that Satanowsky was one of a handful of civilians charged who sought and obtained confidential information from Toronto police officers to facilitate crime.
The Toronto police officer at the centre of the case, Timothy Barnhardt, allegedly provided another civilian accused, Brian Da Costa, with confidential information that was used in the alleged conspiracy to kill a senior corrections officer and other police information that helped facilitate seven shootings in York Region, according to Hogan.
CBC News previously reported on several of the shootings Satanowsky is tied to last year, including three shootings at the same residential property on Allison Ann Way, near Bathurst Street and Major MacKenzie Drive W., in Vaughan. The house was shot at three times in two months, and then for a fourth time in early February, according to Satanowsky’s criminal information.
One of the other properties Satanowsky is accused of arranging two shootings at is owned by a company which lists slain tow truck kingpin Alex Vinogradsky as a director, according to property and corporate records. Vinogradsky was killed in North York in 2024.
Barnhardt was also denied bail last month. But his co-accused Da Costa was granted a $1.5-million bail with house arrest earlier this week.
Da Costa’s bail conditions include having no contact with Barnhardt, Satanowsky and others charged in Project South.
The no-contact list also includes Gurpreet Singh, a co-accused of former Olympic snowboarder and alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding. CBC News was first to report this link between Project South and one of Wedding’s alleged accomplices from court documents released this week.
Singh has been held at Toronto South Detention Centre since his arrest in October 2024. He’s currently fighting extradition to California, where he’s wanted to stand trial in connection with Wedding’s suspected drug-trafficking conspiracy.
CBC News has spoken with two sources who say Singh is connected to Project South. However, Singh is not accused of any wrongdoing nor is he facing any criminal charges in connection with Project South.
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