Investigator Mike Keizerwaard (left) of the Insurance Bureau of Canada receiving the IAATI 2021 Insurance Investigator of the Year Award for his work on the “Project Seagull” Investigation.

In early October 2019, the Investigative Services Division of Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) was contacted by Hamilton Police investigators about assisting in an investigation into the export and reVINing of stolen motor vehicles. IBC Investigator Mike Keizerwaard was assigned to assist Hamilton Police in their investigation, including the identification of reVINed stolen vehicles they expected to encounter. I n their investigation, the Hamilton Police had identified several suspects, who were believed to be shipping stolen vehicles to the Middle East. Several of the stolen vehicles were confirmed “owner give-ups,” which means the owners of the vehicles had willingly turned over their vehicles to the suspects, who shipped and/or reVINed them. The owners then reported the vehicles stolen and filed what would obviously be fraudulent insurance claims. In late October 2019, Investigator Keizerwaard was asked to examine vehicles in two shipping containers that Hamilton Police investigators had intercepted en route to the Middle East and had linked to their suspects. Three of the four vehicles in the two containers examined by Investigator Keizerwaard were determined to be stolen reVINed vehicles: a 2019 Dodge Ram, a 2018 Audi Q7 and a 2018 Mercedes C300. The false VIN labels used by the suspects were of excellent quality and would have passed any inspection at first glance. In early December 2019, Hamilton Police intercepted another container that was linked to the suspects, and Investigator Keizerwaard examined it. It contained an excellently reVINed stolen 2019 Toyota Highlander. A stolen and reVINed 2019 Toyota Highlander was intercepted with other vehicles. The investigation by Hamilton Police continued, and on December 5, 2019, they executed search warrants at six businesses and three residences. IBC’s presence was requested at one of the six businesses, located at 401 Parkdale Avenue North in Hamilton, to act as the primary vehicle identifier. The property consisted of a large metal Quonset hut, surrounded by dozens of whole and partially stripped vehicles, as well as stacks of doors, hoods, etc. Inside the Quonset hut were several more stripped and partially stripped vehicles. Investigator Keizerwaard and another IBC investigator, Dave Ricker, were tasked that day with identifying all vehicles by VIN and attempting to identify the parts and stripped vehicle remains by VIN. Almost every vehicle inside the Quonset hut was found to have been stolen. IBC identified a total of 32 vehicles and parts of vehicles as stolen. Some were complete vehicles, but most were stripped or partially stripped. Some had parts that were linked to the stolen vehicles by cross-referenced part or ID numbers. One vehicle inside the Quonset hut, a 2018 Ford Explorer, was found in a state of “mid-reVIN,” where the true VIN plate on the dash had been removed and a false VIN label was found, ready but not yet applied. All of the stolen vehicles and parts were towed to a Hamilton Police pound, and all 32 were subsequently re-examined in detail by Investigator Keizerwaard, who wrote individual identification reports and provided them to the Hamilton Police investigators. In what was now identified as Project Seagull, Hamilton Police arrested and charged four people on December 5, 2019, the date of the search warrant executions, for charges including Possession of Property Obtained By Crime, Trafficking in Property Obtained By Crime, Participate in Activities of a Criminal Organization, and Tamper with Vehicle Identification Number. In addition to 39 stolen vehicles valued at over $1.6 million, police also recovered/ seized cash, gold jewellery and other suspected stolen items, as well as car keys and fobs. In addition, police found numerous fraudulent VINs, shipping documents and stolen Mexican passports. In December 2020, in what at first appeared to be an unrelated matter, Investigator Keizerwaard was asked to examine a 2018 Honda Civic. The vehicle had been brought into a collision repair centre in St. Catharines, near Hamilton, for a structural safety inspection. The vehicle, which had been recently purchased, had allegedly been repaired after a significant collision. However, the inspecting mechanic could find no evidence of any collision repair. A 2018 Ford Explorer in “mid-reVIN” An array of stripped vehicles that were examined during the investigation Investigator Keizerwaard examined the Civic and determined that it was stolen and had been reVINed with the VIN of a salvage Honda Civic. An interview of the purchaser indicated he had bought the vehicle from 401 Parkdale Avenue North, Hamilton. He identified the seller as the ringleader and one of the four individuals charged by Hamilton Police in Project Seagull. Armed with this information, Hamilton Police again prepared a warrant to search the Quonset hut and property at 401 Parkdale Avenue North, Hamilton. Investigator Keizerwaard was again asked to be present on the scene as the vehicle identifier. The search warrant was executed on December 15, 2020. This time, there were fewer vehicles on site, and most were found not to have been stolen. However, a cut portion of a shock tower was located and found to have most of a stamped VIN ground out. Investigator Keizerwaard concluded this was part of a 2018 Dodge Challenger reported stolen in nearby Peel Region in August 2019. Also, through secondary number identification, Investigator Keizerwaard identified a rear clip of what appeared to be a Mercedes sedan as coming from a 2018 Mercedes C43 that had been reported stolen in Peel Region in August 2020, after the most recent warrant was executed. Based on the information of the purchased, reVINed Civic and the seizure/identification on the chopped Dodge Challenger and Mercedes C43, the ringleader, who had been out on bail after the original set of charges, was re-arrested. A subsequent bail hearing resulted in him being held in custody. The overall success of the Project Seagull investigation was in part due to Investigator Keizerwaard’s determination, diligence and expertise in the identification of stolen vehicles. Investigator Keizerwaard has been a member of North East International Association of Auto Theft Investigators (IAATI) since 2004 and served on the board of the IAATI’s North East Chapter while employed as a detective in York Regional Police’s Auto Theft Unit. After his retirement from the police force in 2017, Mike began working as an auto theft investigator for IBC, focusing on the Greater Toronto Area