Heather Wright/The Independent

A Watford car dealer says there are 208 classic cars involved in an OPP investigation which stretches from Lambton to Belleville.

Late last year, Larry Grogan alerted the OPP in Lambton about missing classic cars.

May 14, the officers along with Central Hastings OPP’s Emergency Response Team, the OPP-led Provincial Auto Theft and Towing Team and the OPP-led Provincial Asset Forfeiture Unit searched a garage in Stirling, a small farming community north of Belleville.

Police found 16 stolen vehicles worth about $3 million.

Police charged Robert Bradshaw, 54, and Gary LeBlanc, 55, from Stirling with multiple counts of theft of motor vehicles over $5,000, fraud, using forged documents and conspiracy.

Since the May arrests, OPP officers have been tracking down more of the classics which were also originally the property of Grogan Classics in Watford.

Last week, OPP arrested Michael McCrory, 58, and laid six charges including theft over $5,000, fraud, and forgery.

Paul Downs, Grogan’s lawyer, in a statement to The Independent, said “Court documents allege the men stole “numerous motor vehicles” between Jan. 1, 2020, and May 9, 2024, and used “deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means” to fraudulently obtain replacement ownerships for the stolen motor vehicles.”

Downs says so far 45 of the cars have been returned to Grogan’s Classics. Another 163 are outstanding.

Until now, the scope of the investigation wasn’t known. However, Mona Evoy and her husband, Wayne, have been trying to bring classic car owners whose vehicles have been seized together online.

So far, 16 owners from Ontario and about four from Quebec have contacted the Evoys. All have similar stories.

Mona Evoy says they purchased Wayne’s “dream car” a 1934 Coupe, three years ago. They registered it with the Ministry of Transportation, paid the taxes on it and restored it, spending about $40,000 in all.

Then, one morning in July, a Lambton OPP investigator knocked on their door in Eastern Ontario asking for her husband. “And he said, ‘Well, his car’s reported stolen. We have to take it.
“I was so stunned, I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think,” she says.

Others on the social media page tell the same story of the OPP informing them of the theft of the vehicle they bought and towing it away.

“We are all out 10s of 1000s of dollars, and most of us saved for many, many years. And some people…they saved for something for their retirement, and the bought these cars,” she says.

The Evoys have also launched an online fundraiser to hire a lawyer.

“We don’t have a whole lot of extra money kicking around after sinking it into these vehicles to hire a lawyer, because it’s going to be expensive. So we started the GoFundMe to try to help us financially in that way, because we’re kind of tapped out.” Evoy says they’re trying to protect their rights and at least be reimbursed for the money they paid out to buy the classic cars.

“We’ve been railroaded and we’ve been treated like criminals, and we didn’t do anything wrong. We just want, all of us just wanted to buy a car to drive around and enjoy a little bit of life,” says Evoy.

“Mr. Grogan has sympathy for the persons who purchased the stolen vehicles… Grogan Classics has sold several of the stolen vehicles to the persons who purchased the stolen vehicles,” says the company’s lawyer, Paul Downs.

“People who purchased their stolen vehicles from registered motor vehicle dealers, who are protected against fraudulent transactions, are able to recover their money from the dealers who sold them the stolen vehicle.”

And Down points out the Grogans also lost a great deal.

“There was no insurance coverage on the vehicles because the vehicles had not yet been delivered to the Grogan dealership in Watford,” he said.

There has been a lot of online speculation about the link between Grogan and the three men accused in the classic car theft ring. Downs denies that.

“Neither Mr. Grogan nor his corporation were in business or in partnership with the thieves, as has been falsely reported by the press and CBC.”