Auto recycler accused of stealing vehicles, selling to scrap metal company

Police property crimes investigators believe a man who runs an automotive recycling company in Winnipeg is behind the recent rash of vehicle thefts using tow trucks.

The Winnipeg Police Service announced last week that detectives had arrested two individuals and seized two towing vehicles believed to be tied to a string of thefts in Transcona in which tow trucks were used to steal automobiles, but have revealed few other details while the investigation continues.

On Tuesday, however, the province’s criminal property forfeiture office filed a civil claim in Court of King’s Bench that outlines the police investigation into Cory Ronnie James Fincaryk, 48, and his company, Winnipeg Auto Recycling, which collects scrap metal and sells it to recycling companies for cash.

“The purpose of damaging the stolen vehicles in this manner was to make them appear as scrap vehicles.”–Court claim

“Through their investigation, police determined the defendant Fincaryk and/or employees of Winnipeg Auto Recycling were stealing vehicles, damaging them, and selling them to (a metal recycling firm) as scrap vehicles,” said Lisa Bryce, the forfeiture office’s manager of administrative forfeiture, in an affidavit filed in support of the lawsuit.

Fincaryk and his employees are accused in the court papers of illegally towing at least nine vehicles to the company compound and selling the pilfered cars and trucks as scrap metal between July 2 and 14.

After lifting and driving off with the vehicles, they would then tow the stolen autos to a compound in East St. Paul, just outside the city, where Fincaryk or his employees would break windows and dent body panels before painting an acronym for the company’s name on the vehicles, the court filing alleges.

“The purpose of damaging the stolen vehicles in this manner was to make them appear as scrap vehicles,” reads the court claim.

Paid more than $3 million

Fincaryk and employees sold more nearly seven million kilograms worth of vehicles to the recycling company between January 2017 and May 2024, for which his company was paid more than $3 million, the court papers say.

The lawsuit doesn’t allege wrongdoing on the part of the scrap metal recycling company that purchased the goods.

This month and last, Winnipeg Auto Recycling sold 62 vehicles to the scrap metal company for about $40,000, the filing says.

“Some of the vehicles sold by the defendant Fincaryk and/or employees of Winnipeg Auto Recycling to (the scrap recycling company) between 2017 and 2025 had been stolen,” the court filing alleges.

Police obtained warrants to search the East St. Paul address and one of Fincaryk’s tow trucks on July 15. At the compound and yard, officers found another tow truck, a vehicle that had been stolen the day prior and licence plates for two other vehicles that had been reported stolen a day earlier, the court papers say.

In the tow truck, officers found catalytic converters, vehicle batteries, licence plates for two more stolen vehicles and a log book listing vehicles that had been scrapped for cash since October 2024, the court filing alleges.

“Some of the vehicles sold by the defendant Fincaryk and/or employees of Winnipeg Auto Recycling to (the scrap recycling company) between 2017 and 2025 had been stolen.”–Court claim

On July 15, police watched as an employee of Fincaryk’s towed a stolen Nissan Quest from East St. Paul to the recycling company and sold it, before returning to East St. Paul and picking up a stolen GMC Terrain, the court papers say. Police arrested the employee when he arrived at the scrap metal recycling firm.

Fincaryk was arrested at his home in Transcona on July 16 and charged with nine counts of motor vehicle theft and five counts of mischief over $5,000. The allegations haven’t been heard in court.

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday names Fincaryk and his companies, including Winnipeg Auto Recycling, as well as a number of financial institutions where he has accounts, as defendants. He has yet to reply with a statement of defence in civil court.

The court filing seeks to allow the provincial government to retain two tow trucks, a pickup truck, a trailer, money from Fincaryk’s personal and business bank accounts, and Fincaryk’s house as the proceeds of crime.

The East St. Paul property is not being sought. The tow trucks, the court papers claim, can be seized as the vehicles were used to commit crimes.

The court papers allege Fincaryk used money made from selling stolen vehicles to pay for his mortgage, for vehicle loans and deposited the cash in bank accounts. The filing concedes at least some of the money given to him by the recycling firm — and deposited to his bank accounts — was for legitimate scrap metal.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca