This was a common complaint to Trading Standards. A private seller of their car would advertise in a newspaper or specialist publication and be telephoned by someone offering (for a fee of course) to put that seller in touch with someone locally they knew wanted a car of that type. Nothing ever materialising from that call, of course.
However, justice has now been served on those involved in one of those scams.
Sentences were as follows:
Managing Director – 24 months imprisonment – 8 month disqualification as a Director – repay nearly £210,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Co-defendant 1 – 30 month prison sentence – 8 month disqualification as a Director – repay over £10,000 under Proceeds of Crime Act.
Co-defendant 2 – 18 month prison sentence – 2 year disqualification as a Director – make repayment under Proceeds of Crime Act.
Co-defendant 3 – 8 month prison sentence (suspended for 2 years) – undertake 200 hours of unpaid work – 2 year disqualification as director and repay over £7000 under Proceeds of Crime Act.
And for anyone who thinks that the amount of payback that the MD has to meet (nearly £210k) is somewhat substantial, do please bear in mind that his confiscated assets acquired through criminal conduct were valued at £1,937,279.36 – so clearly this was big business!
Impression works with businesses across the automotive aftermarket supply chain such as parts suppliers, warehouse distributors, motor factors and independent garages. Covering all aspects of automotive aftermarket marketing, including social media, event management, customer newsletters and PR, Impression is able to quickly establish itself within a client’s business and work towards their objectives.
