The Evoys aren’t the only former classic-car owners left searching for answers. Dozens have been caught up in a sprawling OPP investigation involving more than 200 vintage vehicles.
It was sparked by a December 2023 complaint from Larry Grogan, a Watford, Ont., dealer, who accused his business partner of stealing them. The man is alleged to have transferred the titles into his own name, over a 4.5-year period, at Service Ontario outlets via forged documents, with many of the vehicles then sold on to unsuspecting customers.
In late May, the OPP charged two Stirling, Ont., men — Robert Bradshaw (the former business partner) and Gary Leblanc — with theft, fraud and forgery. Investigators have been busy ever since, repossessing vehicles from people’s garages and driveways.
Ultimately, the police are compounding mistakes made by Grogan, who apparently trusted his business partner so much that it took him more than four years to actually check the books and report anything stolen. Since the cars were goods for sale and not of any sentimental value to him, and he doesn’t need the money or he would have kept a closer eye on the business, the moral thing for him to do would be to leave the vehicles in the hands of their new owners and go after his former business partner for the money he effectively embezzled from the sales. That might not be legally feasible, though.