sandmanls1

VicRoads car scandal hits 3500
By MIKE EDMONDS
20feb03

MASSIVE corruption has been uncovered inside VicRoads that could mean thousands of unsuspecting motorists lose their cars.

Dozens of illegally registered cars have been seized already. Late yesterday, police swooped on two imported 8-series BMWs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Herald Sun has learned 3500 vehicles have been identified by police and VicRoads investigators in the past year as illegally registered.

Corrupt VicRoads staff co-operated with criminal gangs to register thousands of stolen and illegally rebuilt cars.

It is believed the crooked staff received about $100 for every car they falsely registered.

Seven allegedly corrupt VicRoads employees at four branch offices have been arrested and will face court.

More arrests are expected as the full extent of the racket is revealed.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent car owners can soon expect VicRoads notices cancelling their registration and third-party insurance.

It is believed the owners will have no recourse to compensation.

VicRoads investigators are working with police to uncover how far the corruption has spread.

Some staff at VicRoads' Kew headquarters are also under suspicion, according to one investigator.

The Herald Sun was told there are several car theft gangs running the racket across Melbourne.

It is believed the gangs carved up the city, with each group staking "ownership" of a VicRoads office where they illegally slipped cars into the registration system.

"It's like, 'You don't use my contact at this office or I'll come and break your legs'," the Vicroads officer said.

A VicRoads source said some cars were falsely registered even before they were stolen.

"The thieves ring their contact inside and say 'I'm going to steal a white Commodore tomorrow, register it for me, these are the identification numbers I'm going to use'," the officer said.

It is believed some of the VicRoads offices suspected of being involved in the racket have been fitted with spy cameras.

The Herald Sun has been told several people have been caught on video, apparently accepting payments from suspected criminals.

But out-of-pocket car owners are unlikely to get compensation.

RACV chief engineer (vehicles) Michael Case said normal comprehensive car policies would not cover the situation.

"If the vehicle is seized by police it hasn't been stolen, it's not damaged, it hasn't disappeared, so I don't believe there could be a claim," Mr Case said.

"However, car owners who have purchased a vehicle in good faith might be able to take legal action directly against the person they purchased it from, if they can find him or her."

None of the 3500 cars that have been falsely registered are older than five years.

A VicRoads officer said some of the registrations were being dummied up for imported cars, mainly BMWs and Mercedes, while they were still aboard ship on their way to Melbourne.

The officer said the fraud was working so well and the VicRoads computer checks so poor that even Sydney-based gangs were starting to use VicRoads to register stolen vehicles, paying a commission to the Victorian operators of the scheme.

He said some car yards and auto engineers were involved, but most of the illegal vehicles were sold privately.

"It's corruption on a huge scale," the officer said.

"Imported cars need an engineers' report to be registered here, and a proper engineering examination is supposed to take about four hours. Some engineers are doing 10 reports a day."

The officer said there were so many loopholes in the VicRoads system that one set of identification numbers had been used to illegally register 20 vehicles, and no alarm bells had gone off.

Investigators said they had no idea how long the racket had been running, but the 3500 cars identified so far had all been illegally registered in the past year.

Det-Insp Paul Hollowood of the stolen motor vehicle unit said the inquiry was in its early stages.

"It's being done in co-operation with VicRoads themselves and to date a number of people have been spoken to but no one's actually been charged with any offences," he said.

"It's early days in terms of the inquiry, and I would say it will be an on-going one."

A retired VicRoads employee who spoke anonymously to the Herald Sun said the fraud could have been running for years.

"It was happening when I was there; not as sophisticated as now, but still happening," the former employee said.

VicRoads general manager for registration and licensing Geoff Shanks confirmed some staff had been interviewed by police.

"VicRoads has been working closely with police for a number of months as part of an on-going investigation into irregularities with some vehicle registrations," Mr Shanks said.

"Due to the on-going investigation it would be inappropriate to comment further."

It is believed the first people to be questioned about the racket were snared in a police sting.


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If you are not spinning your wheels in 4th you don't have enough power

laminge

Scary really

but would explain what happens to most stollen cars!

Falchoon

Not condoning what has allegedly been going on but are secret "spy cameras" legal?

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You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.'So that was nice.

____o00o_=^..^=_o00o____

Bearman

Geez, that is scary!! Just highlights the dangers of private sales. At least through legit car yards you have some recourse for the premium price you pay.

Those corrupt VicRoads staff are worse than the common car thief in my book. They should be strung up by the balls!!

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BA XR6 NA Mercury Silver (daily drive)
XC Fairmont Coupe (sunday cruiser)
www.fordcoupeclub.org.au

sandmanls1

the age is onto it

Compensation call for duped car owners
theage.com.au
Thursday February 20 2003

The Victorian government should compensate unsuspecting motorists who may lose their cars in the fallout from an alleged registration scam, a consumer law advocate said today.
Thousands of stolen and illegally rebuilt cars have allegedly been registered by corrupt VicRoads staff cooperating with criminal gangs.

Consumer Law Centre chief executive Chris Field said if the allegations were proved correct, there were serious administrative deficiencies in the checking systems at VicRoads.

"If an innocent consumer has purchased a car in good faith, going through all the normal procedures, then they ought to be entitled to compensation," Mr Field told AAP.

Media reports today suggest 3500 vehicles have been identified by police and VicRoads investigators in the past year as illegally registered.

Police have confirmed three people were being questioned over the alleged scam.


A spokesman for the RACV said normal comprehensive car policies would not cover people whose cars were seized by police.

Meanwhile, National Motor Theft Reduction Council executive director, Ray Carroll, said regardless of the outcome of the investigation, more needs to be done to prevent cars from being rebirthed.

More than 6800 cars were stolen in Victoria last year, costing over $60 million in insurance claims.

Mr Carroll said car manufacturers should also take more responsibility for preventing theft by improving the identification of cars.

He said the current system, where vehicle identification numbers (VIN) are stamped onto a compliance plate fitted to the body, still enabled the plate to be removed from wrecked cars and placed on stolen cars.

"Replacing aluminum compliance plates with a self voiding label -- that can't be taken off without being destroyed -- would cost manufactures just $1.50 per car," he said.

Mr Carroll said microdot systems -- where the VIN is put onto thousands of microdots sprayed throughout the car -- was also an option.

Comment was being sought from the state government.

AAP

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If you are not spinning your wheels in 4th you don't have enough power