Latest news with #FrédérikPlanteInvestigative
Toronto Star
27-07-2025
- Toronto Star
These cosmetic stores inside Ontario malls promise customers better skin. Instead, a growing number say they've been tricked into high-cost loans
For Subscribers Star investigation The stores' management deny using deceitful sales tactics. But more and more disgruntled customers are demanding justice. July 27, 2025 9 min read Save By Frédérik PlanteInvestigative Reporter Ashell Campbell was returning shoes at the Scarborough Town Centre when, somewhere between Baskin-Robbins and Sephora, a saleswoman from a cosmetics store called the Soap Tree offered her a free skin cream sample. The woman noted Campbell's acne scarring and suggested a product that could help. Campbell, a 29-year-old community mental health worker, tried the cream and liked the result. 'Why not? I'll treat myself,' she thought, and bought it. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@ @fx_plante on X or @ on Bluesky. Related Stories This confidential report reveals Ontario is spending millions to warehouse kids under Children's Aid care in hotels and other unlicensed settings Disturbing errors at Ontario fertility clinics destroy couples' baby dreams years after province abandoned oversight plans Report an error Journalistic Standards About The Star More from The Star & partners
Toronto Star
26-05-2025
- Toronto Star
He was arrested, lost his job and fought for two years to clear his name. Then a ‘deeply flawed' police investigation fell apart in court
Updated 56 mins ago May 26, 2025 8 min read Save By Frédérik PlanteInvestigative Reporter Early in the morning of May 11, 2020, Xu Chen woke up to the sound of people breaking into the Scarborough house where he rented a room. Chen, then a 56-year-old program supervisor with the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), thought it was a robbery and locked his bedroom door. Intruders smashed through it, he said, ordered him to lie down at gunpoint and handcuffed him. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW FP Frédérik Plante is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. You can reach him at fplante@ @fx_plante on X or @ on Related Stories High-ranking Toronto cop who meddled in nephew's collision investigation demoted for nine months Report an error Journalistic Standards About The Star More from The Star & partners
