A car dealer from Rochester has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for selling a stolen vehicle with fake number plates.
Talat Ali, 34, led a scam which saw a stolen BMW fitted with new plates and then listed for sale on eBay. The car was sold to an unaware member of the public for £14,000 but when they realised something was wrong they promptly notified the police, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Of all the legal considerations involved in dealing cars, not selling on stolen vehicles is one of the more obvious. However, also of great importance is having the right motor trade insurance policy in place - for example, an independent dealer or mechanic will need to have a road risks insurance policy to cover them while driving the cars they are trading or repairing.
Larger businesses operating out of a set premises, meanwhile, will require a combined motor trade insurance policy. This can incorporate cover for the employees, customers, tools and vehicles on site as well as the building itself.
According to detective constable Chris Nield, Mr Ali sold the stolen car to pay off a drugs debt and had got in “way over his head”. He used the alias Tanvir Ali in the scam but was traced down after detectives found his fingerprints inside the BMW.
Mr Ali was handed a 10-month sentence for handling stolen goods and a further five months for fraud by false representation.
