Four Men Arrested For Selling Vintage Cars Targeting The Elderly
An arrest and search operation was carried out today by An Garda Síochána in County Limerick.
Four men who are part of a crime gang have been arrested for targeting elderly people in a vintage and classic car sales scam.
According to the Gardai, this latest incident involved €360,000 worth of vintage cars and targeted mainly elderly people. Regarding the crime, the Gardaí said the operation
“relates to offences of deception involving the purchase and sale of vintage and classic cars”.
This is mainly an intimidation scam and shakedown. An elderly person may put a vintage or classic car up for sale on one of the well known online classified cars sales websites. They are then contacted by a supposed interested buyer who will arrange to meet the seller in a car park somewhere or even at their home.
When the older person arrives at the designated meeting place, like a car park, they are then met with a group of men who surround them and basically intimidate and scare them into signing documents and selling the car for a drastically lower price than advertised.
This is how the intimidation works. The seller will probably be asked to show their Log book (VLC, Vehicle Licencing Certificate) first. The gang member will now have seen the seller's address. This is when the intimidation and fear tactics start. The gang members will make the seller of the vehicle fear for their own safety.
The gang will insist that they will take the car for a massively reduced price. ‘We know where you live’, can be a terrifying thing to hear from a gang and the victim will accept whatever offer is given to them by these criminals just to get away.
This type of terroristic crime is on the increase in this country and not just happening in the Limerick area.
So far, 20 vehicles are subject to the investigation and have been seized in the swoop. Detective Superintendent Michael Mullen of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation said today’s operation is the result of “a lengthy investigation”.
The Gardaí believe there may be more victims across the country who have been deceived by the vintage and classic car gang. Superintendent Mullen went on to say:
“I would like to appeal today, particularly to the elderly community, to contact your local garda station if you believe that you have been deceived in the purchase or sale of a vintage or classic car in circumstances where either money has not been received or money received far less than that of the value of the car,”
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Justin Kavanagh
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