Exposed: Inner workings of luxury car fraud syndicate revealed
The inside story behind an sophisticated interstate luxury car fraud syndicate has been revealed, with two players convicted for their roles in the criminal enterprise.
Macarthur
Don't miss out on the headlines from Macarthur. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Grand final ‘no goal’ protest falls on deaf ears
- Mt Annan classroom set alight
- What you get with your subscription
The inner workings of a sophisticated fraud syndicate which sourced luxury cars from across NSW and Queensland has been exposed after two key players were sentenced for their roles.
The Campbelltown Local Court heard bogus documents were used by the elaborate criminal enterprise to secure loans for a collection of luxury vehicles, including Mercedes Benz AMG, Holden Commodore GTS and Holden HSV Club Sport, before onselling them for profit.
Pay slips, rates notices and driver’s licences were created for non-existent people, ripping off financial institutions about $4.5 million since 2014 police allege.
Major players in the syndicate allegedly include Monstr Clothing founder and accused bikie Shane Ross and his business manager Scott Stoneman, both based in Queensland.
Mr Ross remains before the courts while Stoneman has been sentenced for his role.
A major police investigation led to the arrests of Macquarie Fields panelbeater Hilal Merhi and Sans Souci man Mohamad Alameddine last year, who were convicted for their roles in driving, storing and even crashing the luxury cars on Wednesday.
According to court documents, Merhi would operate for Mr Ross, with police intercepting phone conversations between the pair.
The court heard that in August 2016, when Merhi told the Monstr Clothing founder he had registered a fraudulently financed $70,000 Holden Commodore GTS for him, Mr Ross said: “Oh yeah mad. Do a burnout or something?”
When Merhi obediently said yes, the alleged bikie changed his mind and told him: “You might crash it bro.”
According to court documents Mr Ross and Stoneman flew from Queensland to Sydney three days later where they dined with Merhi, Alameddine and two other men before the Monstr Clothing founder hit the city with his “missus” and left his business manager to drive the Commodore back to Queensland.
A fortnight earlier, police intercepted another conversation between a panicked Merhi and Stoneman after a fraudulently obtained Holden HSV Club Sport, registered in Merhi’s name, was reported stolen by ANZ Financial Services.
“If they come to me looking for a repo and then they find other repos there then my house will be targeted for repos, do you know what I mean?” Merhi said.
A Mercedes Benz AMG, valued at $180,000, sourced in Queensland as part of the criminal enterprise was transported to Sydney just days after Mr Ross and Mr Stoneman visited in 2016.
A week later Merhi registered the vehicle for $40,000 for a man named Ricky Lee Syned. Only a single BPAY payment was made on the fraudulent loan from the bank account of Stoneman, according to court documents.
Merhi and Alameddine’s defence team told the court the pair never made any money from the scheme and were “certainly not big players of any game of fraud”.
They have were each convicted of dealing with the property proceeds of crime and placed on an 18-month and 15-month Intensive Correction Order.