9:23 am, August 7, 2025
A corrupt car dealer who abused his position as a salesman to fraudulently pocket more than £40,000 will be sentenced next month.
Car Dealer reported earlier this year that Joe McStein was facing a likely jail term for stealing tens of thousands of pounds while working at the now defunct Evans Halshaw Ford Northwich back in 2023.
He admitted to the offences at Chester Magistrates’ Court on January 31 and the case was referred to the Crown Court for sentencing.
However, less than a week later, he was appearing at Sefton Magistrates’ Court in Bootle, where he admitted a further 11 charges of selling cars illegally while working for Williams Group BMW in Liverpool.
Those offences pre-dated the Evans Halshaw scam and the case was set to be referred to Liverpool Crown Court.
However, it has since been ruled that the two cases can be handled at the same time and last week the 30-year-old appeared before Chester Crown Court for a case management hearing.
During proceedings, his final sentencing date was set for September 26, with judge Neil Flewitt KC telling him: ‘Please do whatever you need to do to prepare yourself.’
McStein’s Evans Halshaw scam saw the sales executive using his own bank account to bag money which had been paid by customers for cars.
The illegal operation was uncovered when one transaction was flagged by insiders, sparking an investigation into McStein’s sales.
Upon further inspection, it was discovered that employee had been running the illegal operation for months, benefitting to the tune of £40,933.67 between August and December, 2023.
He was fired from his position as a result.
