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New York Law Journal – Reprint with Permission
Not only was the group of car thieves organized, they also had expensive tastes in automobiles. Why steal a Geo Metro when there’s a perfectly good Mercedes 380 SL available.
Nine Detroit residents suspected of participating in an auto theft scam have been charged with providing fraudulent information to the Michigan Secretary of State. Of the nine, seven have been arrested and two are still at large.
The charges stem from a sophisticated auto theft scheme, estimated to have involved at least 30 high-priced vehicles. The thieves would test drive a vehicle they wanted to steal and return it with the keys switched. Later, they would return to the lot with the keys and steal the car. They would obtain a fraudulent title to the car through a VIN switching scheme and then sell the car to an unsuspecting buyer.
According to the Ingham County prosecutor’s office, the nine could have been charged with auto theft but officials decided to use the fraud charges instead because they are sometimes easier to prove and carry a minimum sentence of one year in jail. Theft charges are harder to prove since a stolen auto typically would pass through many hands after it left the auto lot. Besides, there is no mandatory minimum sentence for auto theft.
The Detroit Police Department has returned most of the stolen vehicles to their rightful owners. Those Detroit residents who purchased the stolen vehicles were advised that the only way they might recover their money was to sue the people who sold them the car.
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