Keilor East factory used for modifying cars, Anthony Velluto jailed
They go in looking like your car that went missing, but come out completely different. Now one of the mechanics behind the transformations of cars stolen from across Melbourne has faced court.
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An employee at a Keilor East factory put his skills as mechanic to use “rebirthing” vehicles stolen from across Melbourne.
Anthony Velluto, who was an employee at the Bailey Ave factory until he was arrested in January, fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Monday, May 25.
The court heard the father, a qualified auto electrician and motor mechanic, was paid a modest salary to modify allegedly stolen cars in the workshop.
His lawyer, Chris Brydon, told the court Velluto found the job after getting out of jail in mid 2018, and was initially doing legitimate repairs for his employers.
But Mr Brydon said it wasn’t long before Velluto was asked to use his skills on the “rebirthing” of stolen vehicles, staying in the job because of his desperation for ongoing employment.
The court heard Velluto was at the factory when police raided it on July 2, finding a Lancer, which had been stolen from Roxburgh Park, being worked on.
Senior Constable Matt Isaac said on November 11 Velluto was seen driving a black ute into the factory in convoy with a Volkswagen that had been stolen from Frankston.
The Volkswagen was then driven out of the building later that morning, missing its roof racks and side awnings, as Velluto followed in a Mercedes.
The missing car pieces were recovered when police searched the factory that afternoon, also finding an air compressor stolen from South Morang and five vials of peptides.
The court heard Velluto hid in the factory during the raid, avoiding arrest.
Police then saw him doing a burnout on McIntyre Rd about 5pm on November 8, before on November 16, they found the vehicle he had been driving, which had cloned number plates and had been stolen from Heidelberg West.
Velluto walked up to the vehicle with the key shortly after police came across it.
Officers discovered Velluto had three other car keys and a Harley Davidson key with him, all suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Sen-Constable Isaac said police then found Velluto in a stolen Mitsubishi, which had two different stolen number plates, in Baranduda on January 20 after he was reported to be unresponsive behind the wheel of the running car.
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Three more stolen number plates were found in the car, as well as 20ml of GHB and prescription medication.
The incident came after he was found unconscious in the carpark of Plenty Valley shopping centre in Mill Park with GHB in his pocket on July 19 and had to be taken to Northern Hospital.
The court heard Velluto, who pleaded guilty to all the crimes, breached a community corrections order with the offending, and had previously served several stints in jail.
Magistrate Helen Murphy sentenced him to seven months’ jail, with 151 days having already been served since his arrest.
She ordered him to be released onto a 12-month community corrections order including drug and mental health treatment.
He was fined $1300 for the drug and driving charges with conviction and his licence was cancelled for six months.