7:56 am, August 11, 2026
Police are searching for victims of a bogus luxury car dealer who scammed victims out of more than £1m by selling cars that that did not exist.
Ravinder Randhawa listed luxury models via a fake website, which he set up to pose as a high-end dealer selling cars from the likes of Porsche, Mercedes and Range Rover.
Victims coughed up money for the vehicles only to discover they had been duped when they went to collect their cars or when their scheduled deliveries never arrived.
Randhawa was eventually convicted of fraud and money laundering offences and jailed for nine years in 2021 but police are now seeking victims who could be entitled to recover some of the money stolen from them.
Officers are particularly keen to hear from people in Sussex who believe they were deceived by Randhawa between May 2018 and February 2021.
It comes after a 2022 Proceeds of Crime Act hearing heard that Shariff had benefited from crime to the tune of £16,520, although he had just £5 in available assets at the time.
However, financial investigators from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) discovered in 2024 that Shariff was holding more than £13,000 in cash.
Overall, the fraudster stole more than £1m from more than 150 people, using some of the proceeds to buy expensive items and laundering other money through associates’ accounts.
One of those associates was Atif Shariff, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison for money laundering.
The SWROCU says it has so far been able to identify and partly compensate more than 30 victims, but is now trying to track down others who were part of the original prosecution process.
Amanda Alldridge, asset confiscation and enforcement manager at SWROCU, said: ‘We have been able to identify and partly compensate over 30 victims but we would like to track down the remainder who were part of the prosecution process.
‘We are asking for individuals from Sussex who think they may’ve been deceived by Randhawa’s scam between May 2018 and February 2021 to contact us as they could be entitled to compensation.
‘The compensation value is likely to be small compared to their total loss, but my team are passionate about making sure money is paid back to those who were affected by the fraud.’
Anyone who believes they were a victim can complete SWROCU’s Compensation Registration Form.