Victims 'mugged off' by vehicle-clocking criminals

Victims who bought cars and vans with clocked mileage accidental they consciousness "mugged off" by the fraudsters who coiled backmost a full of 2,000,000 miles disconnected conveyance odometers.

Ryan Regan, Thomas Hamilton and Darren Cradduck, each from Kent, were each fixed suspended sentences astatine Canterbury Crown Court connected Friday.

Shaun Thomas, 61, a bricklayer from Hastings, unknowingly bought a van from the radical which had had astir 100,000 miles taken disconnected the odometer.

He said: "Everything seemed to beryllium legit, but I got turned over, I consciousness a spot of a prat."

Clocking is erstwhile the full miles travelled displayed connected a vehicle's dashboard is tampered with.

The odometer is the instrumentality which measures the region travelled by the vehicle.

By decreasing the mileage connected the vehicles, fraudsters tin past merchantability them connected for a higher price.

Regan, Hamilton and Cradduck bought 21 high-mileage vehicles astatine auction and reduced their region travelled by an mean of 90,500 miles each, Kent Trading Standards said.

The largest mileage deduction successful 1 conveyance was 163,000 miles.

Mr Thomas bought a Citroën Dispatch from the dealers.

When helium took the van for an MOT a twelvemonth later, helium was contacted by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) which told him determination was a occupation with the mileage.

On further probe by Kent Trading Standards, the full magnitude clocked was discovered to beryllium astir 100,000 miles.

Mr Thomas said: "It leaves a sour sensation successful your rima really. It had afloat work history, an MOT connected it which was the aforesaid arsenic what was connected the timepiece but present we cognize it wasn't each true.

"I consciousness a spot of a mug," helium added.

The probe into the radical began successful 2018 erstwhile a unfortunate broke down connected the thrust to North Yorkshire aft purchasing a van successful Sandwich.

Kent Trading Standards requested accusation from online auction sites astir the dealers which highlighted 20 antithetic trading names linked to the group, and that the bargain and merchantability mileages did not tally up.

A hunt warrant was carried retired astatine the portion astatine the Old Boatyard, Sandwich wherever fake log books and MOT certificates were found.

Data extracted from the vehicles' physics power units were besides recovered not to correspond to the mileage displayed connected the dashboard.

Kent Trading Standards said it had recovered grounds relating to 22 victims.

In December, Regan, Hamilton and Cradduck pleaded blameworthy to conspiracy to perpetrate fraud.

Evidence recovered connected phones, emails and slope accounts besides recovered Cradduck was receiving requests from motorists wanting to timepiece their lease vehicles truthful they would not beryllium charged other for going implicit their mileage allowance, trading standards said.

He charged £50 per car and called it a "haircut".

Kent County Council's barrister said the worth of the fraud based connected the nett made from the merchantability of these vehicles amounted to £80,000.

Barrister Alison Lambert told the tribunal documents for 303 vehicles were seized and 98 vehicles' odometers were proven to person been tampered with.

Raghu Malhotra bought a Volkswagen (VW) Golf for astir £10,000.

The fraudulent sellers did not person the car's work past truthful Mr Malhotra contacted the main VW dealership.

When helium bought the car, the odometer was astatine 44,000 miles.

He said: "I recovered retired the mileages astatine the work intervals and they were a batch higher than was connected the car."

He sold the car 3 months aboriginal astatine a nonaccomplishment of £5,000 due to the fact that of the other 102,045 miles which had been taken disconnected the odometer by the criminals.

He added: "There's a large fiscal loss, and there's a consciousness of 'I should person known amended really'."

Clive Phillips, operations manager astatine Kent Trading Standards, said the probe was unprecedented successful size and standard for Kent County Council.

He said: "Two cardinal miles is shocking, it's superior offending and that's wherefore we prosecuted.

"They were importantly reducing the mileage leaving radical retired of pocket.

"We fishy they've clocked a batch much than we are capable to beryllium and amusement to the court."

During sentencing, Judge Edmund Fowler said determination had been an "inordinate delay" successful the lawsuit which helium had taken into information erstwhile sentencing.

Ryan Regan and Thomas Hamilton were fixed a two-year situation sentence, suspended for 2 years.

Darren Cradduck was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years.

All 3 volition person to wage compensation and transportation retired 200 hours of unpaid work.