Birmingham trader jailed for car 'clocking'
A Birmingham car trader was today found guilty of 23 offences, including a number under the Fraud Act, after a five day trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
Asif Mahammed, of Woodhall Road, Aston, was sentenced to four years in prison for 'clocking' more than one million miles off used vehicles he sold.
Birmingham Trading Standards brought the case against Mahammed following numerous complaints from consumers in Birmingham, and as far a field as Swansea and York who bought vehicles from him, which had their mileages lowered - in some cases by as much as 100,000 miles.
Mahammed, who used false trading names, provided false service history and MOT documents at point of sale, which made the mileage details appear genuine.
In February 2011, Trading Standards officers executed a number of entry warrants at address across Birmingham. A vast amount of paperwork associated with Mahammed’s car trading business was seized from his Aston address, along with two vehicles that had had their mileages 'clocked'.
Mahammed denied all allegations, although he admitted writing out the sales invoices and service histories for the vehicles supplied.
Recorder A C Tickle, in his summing up, said: “You were at the heart of fraud and dishonest all the way through even through a previous conviction… You are at the heart of this: you were the administrator, you were the seller and you were trusted to handle thousands and tens of thousand of pounds in cash. You were a very trusted individual.
“Members of the public are entitled to honesty when they buy vehicles; they have to rely on the trader. If you go there you want documentation to show that what you see is what you are getting. You were part of the falsification of all that.
“I believe £85,000 is the true figure of loss in this case as people did not get what they bargained for and many had consequential losses when the car broke down. The total clocking was over 1 million miles.”
Cllr Barbara Dring, Chair of the city council's Licensing and Public Protection Committee, said: “Car clocking is a serious criminal activity that can affect anyone who purchases a used car. When buying used vehicles, mileage is a major selling point.
“Where consumers unwittingly buy a 'clocked' vehicle, they are not only buying a vehicle that's been misrepresented they are also often buying a vehicle that may have major mechanical problems which could lead to expensive repair bills.
“Consumers are advised to carry out checks into the vehicle's history before buying a used vehicle, to avoid falling victim of a fraudster.”
ENDS
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