10:44 am, January 15, 2009
HPI has helped the Met catch a violent criminal gang who have been ripping off car dealers.
The information provider has worked with the Metropolitan Police to track down the gang, who had conned dealers out of £1.2 million pounds.
What did they do? Steal dozens of cars, sell them on and then re-steal them to sell on again. Some cars were stolen and sold 6 times!
The criminals did this by cloning cars. Gang leader Nokhiaz Khan set-up a false car dealership called Metropolitan Recovery, providing cover to rip off traders and customers alike.
Khan was caught by carrying out HPI checks. The gang only wanted identities of vehicles with a clean history – so routinely HPI Check’d any suitable identity before using it to clone one of the stolen motors.
The Met therefore gave HPI the registrations of the stolen cars. They cross-referenced them on their system. And who’s name kept cropping up? Metropolitan Recovery!
After being collared, Khan and 4 gang members were convicted for their part in the 4-year crime wave, while Khan pleaded guilty to fraud involving 37 cars.
Nick Lindsay, director of HPI, said: ‘This gang mistakenly thought they could use industry tools to their advantage. However, by working closely together, HPI, Exchange & Mart and the Police have proved that the industry is more than a match for even the most sophisticated thieves.’
‘Both consumers and dealers can become a victim of car fraudsters, so we advise private buyers and those in the trade to conduct checks. It’s better to be safe than sorry.’
An HPI Check, he adds, is the only history check guarantee to provide cover for cloned vehicles…
Aviva sells HPI for £112 million
