A group of criminals who tampered with odometers on 21 high-mileage vehicles to the tune of 2,000,000 miles in total have been sentenced in Canterbury Crown Court. The fraudulent sellers bought cars at auction and reduced their mileage by an average of 90,500 miles, with the largest mileage deduction in one vehicle being 163,000 miles. They sold the vehicles on for a higher price, leaving buyers feeling “mugged off”.
Victim Shaun Thomas unknowingly bought a van from the group that had nearly 100,000 miles taken off the odometer. The issue came to light when Thomas contacted the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for an MOT a year later. Thomas stated, “everything seemed to be legit,” but was “turned over, I feel a bit of a prat” for paying £1,500 over the market price for the van.
Clocking is the practice of tampering with the total miles travelled displayed on a vehicle’s dashboard. By decreasing the mileage on the odometer, fraudsters can then sell the vehicle for a bigger profit.
Ryan Regan, Thomas Hamilton and Darren Cradduck were given suspended sentences for conspiracy to commit fraud. Kent Trading Standards said it had found evidence relating to 22 victims and Cradduck received requests from motorists wanting to clock their lease vehicles, charging £50 per car and calling it a “haircut”.
The investigation originated in 2018 when a victim broke down in North Yorkshire after purchasing a van in Sandwich. Evidence was found on phones, emails and bank accounts. The total value of the fraud, based on the profit made from the sale of these vehicles, amounted to £80,000
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