8:25 am, March 18, 2024
A used car salesman could face a criminal trial after he was accused of clocking vehicles before selling them.
Grzegorz Seczwokski, 39, appeared at Oxford Crown Court last Thursday (Mar 14), charged with a single count of fraud in relation to his company, GNA Car Sales Ltd.
The car dealer, of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, is said to have offered multiple vehicles with fake milometer readings between September 22, 2021 and October 29, 2022.
This is Oxfordshire reports that during a brief hearing last week, Seczwokski’s legal team made an application for the charges to be dismissed.
The motion will be put before the same court in May with a trial due to set place on February 24 next year if the application is rejected.
Last week, National Trading Standards warned used car dealers that they need to take every possible step to avoid selling cars that have been clocked.
Owen Kennedy, lead officer for motor sales for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, told Car Dealer that retailers can still be prosecuted, even if they do not know a vehicle’s mileage has been tampered with.
He advised all dealers to get a mileage history check carried out by an external provider and to keep a record of that check.
He also suggested that car dealers ask whoever is selling them the vehicle – especially if bought from a member of the public – to sign a mileage declaration form which states that to the ‘best of their knowledge’ the mileage is true and accurate.
Seczwokski, originally from Poland, will return to court on May 10.
