FED: Stolen car racket nets thieves $100 million police

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-1999
FED: Stolen car racket nets thieves $100 million police

Victorian police have uncovered a sophisticated $100 million stolen car cloning racket,
operating in four states and involving 5,000 prestige cars a year.

Police say the thieves stole prestige cars in one state, gave them new cloned identities of
a similar vehicle and then sold them interstate to unwitting buyers.

A police spokesman says a number of stolen cars have already been seized from buyers, who
lose the money they spend on buying the cars.

He says most of the stolen cars in Victoria appear to have come from New South Wales.

The spokesman says police are concerned because they believe 5,000 cars go through this
type of racket each year, making it a $100 million industry.

AAP RTV gf/ra/pjg/shm

KEYWORD: CLONES (MELBOURNE)

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.