Two men who spent nearly a year living under the cloud of a massive auto theft investigation are now turning the tables on the people who arrested them. Harris Bocknek and Fadi Zeto, both former automotive sales and finance managers at Rouge Valley Mitsubishi in Scarborough, have filed a lawsuit seeking close to $11 million from Toronto police after all 176 charges against them collapsed. They are not just after money, either. They want Chief Myron Demkiw to apologize to them personally.
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The claim, filed earlier this month, names the Toronto Police Services Board, Demkiw, and a long list of officers as defendants. It alleges the two men were falsely arrested, dragged through public humiliation, and financially gutted by accusations that never held up. Bocknek told TorontoToday that clearing their names is the whole point, because even after charges disappear, the suspicion can follow a person around like a shadow they never asked for.
How It Started
The investigation was called Project Warden, and it kicked off in the summer of 2024. Police were looking into claims that stolen vehicles were being sold to customers who had no idea what they were buying. The accusations against Bocknek and Zeto were serious. Investigators alleged the pair used fake sales agreements, swapped Vehicle Identification Numbers from legally owned cars, and tapped dealership money to buy stolen vehicles from numbered companies.
Here is the part that matters. According to the lawsuit, the entire probe was built on the word of the dealership’s owner, who the claim says fabricated the allegations from the ground up. The lawsuit describes those accusations as completely false and entirely made up. If that holds, it means the foundation of a 176-charge case rested on a story that fell apart the moment it faced real scrutiny.
By November 2024, police had executed search warrants across homes, commercial garages, and vehicles tied to the two men. Bocknek, who lives in Barrie, was hit with 92 charges. Zeto, of Mississauga, faced 84. Together the named companies and individuals were caught up in one of the more high-profile auto theft sweeps the region had seen.
The Day Everything Changed
Bocknek said he was arrested on Oct. 21, 2024, while celebrating his daughter’s sixth birthday. When Toronto police called to tell him they had a warrant, he assumed it was a prank. Moments later he was handcuffed at his own dining room table while his young daughter cried beside him. He kept insisting there had to be some kind of mistake.
Zeto’s arrest played out differently but no less harshly. He was taken into custody at his body shop in Vaughan, a business he no longer owns. He alleges police tore the place apart, destroying new furniture, couches, and years of documents in the process. TorontoToday reviewed photos and video of the scene and saw couches sliced open, papers scattered across the floor, and auto parts strewn around the office. Zeto said he was held at 53 Division for more than 30 hours and claims not a single officer would explain why he was there.
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The Fallout
When police announced the results of Project Warden at a press conference, the damage spread fast. Zeto said his phone exploded with roughly 400 calls in a single day once his name and photo hit the news. Bocknek said people he had not spoken to in years suddenly reached out, and the flood got so overwhelming he simply shut his phone off.
That detail matters, because the consequences did not stop at embarrassment. Both men had their Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council licenses pulled, effectively locking them out of the industry where they built their careers. The lawsuit argues their chances of finding work in the field now sit somewhere close to zero. After nearly two years without income, Zeto said he lost his home and had to leave Mississauga entirely.
The financial bleeding went deeper still. The claim alleges that financial institutions cancelled credit lines and accounts, with interest still piling on, and that both men watched their credit scores crater. The lawsuit accuses police of deliberately working to financially strangle the two men, and says officers broadcast the allegations as established fact rather than unproven claims.
Where Things Stand
Nearly 10 months after the arrests, the Crown abruptly withdrew every charge, citing no reasonable prospect of conviction. None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested in court, and no statement of defence has been filed yet. A Toronto Police Service spokesperson declined to comment because the matter is before the courts.
The numbers tell the rest of the story. Bocknek is seeking just over $4 million, while Zeto is demanding nearly $4.8 million. On top of that, each man wants $500,000 in aggravated damages and another $500,000 in punitive damages. The claim points to seven years of lost income for each of them and warns the emotional and financial wreckage could stretch far beyond that, possibly for good.
Bocknek said he and Zeto have contacted Toronto police close to 30 times and written multiple letters trying to get their records amended, only to be met with silence. Their names are gone from the Project Warden website, but the records themselves still exist. The real question now is whether a police force that moved fast to charge and publicize will move just as fast to answer for it, or whether two men cleared of everything will keep paying for crimes the Crown decided it could never prove.
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