Criminals use luxury car finance rackets to fuel vehicle theft

Victoria’s crime gangs are stealing an extraordinary number of prestige cars, including Audis, BMWs and Lamborghinis, and getting away with it. Here’s the tips and tricks the criminals use.

Sophisticated luxury car finance rackets have emerged as a boom element of Victoria’s $164 million vehicle crime industry.

Organised crime gangs are raking in millions from rorts in which prestige makes — including Mercedes-Benzes, Audis, BMWs and Lamborghinis — are bought on finance then made to disappear.

In some cases, vehicles are being shuffled between Melbourne and Sydney to make them harder to recover.

The finance rackets have helped fill a vehicle crime void created by a decline in the level of car rebirthing, which has been made increasingly difficult by advances in technology.

Middle-eastern organised crime syndicates and bikie gangs are heavily involved, buying cars worth as much as $200,000 before making them disappear — frequently over the border.

Some of the most prominent figures in the Melbourne and Sydney underworld have been found driving the cars.

Car thefts are on the decline, so criminals are turning to a luxury car finance racket.

One dangerous figure linked to homicides and high-level drug trafficking has been involved in the scams.

The Herald Sun has been told some of those behind the swindles are using false IDs or the credentials of others to buy the vehicles on finance.

Faked group certificates have been presented as proof of income.

There have been instances of a referee being provided complete with phone number but when the finance company gets in touch, it is an associate of the thief on the other end of the line.

A flat-bed truck is then sent to collect the car.

Sources say those behind the thefts keep up the payments for a few months but will have already sold the car cheaply interstate.

“You’ve got people who haven’t worked for 10 years driving around in $100,000 cars,” one source said.

“It’s too hard to own and drive a stolen car. It’s better to do it this way.”

One source said recovering vehicles moved interstate was difficult.

“It’s actually a finance fraud but it’s not treated like a stolen car. The cops are too busy investigating $200 million frauds,” the source said.

Some of those involved are already entrenched in other areas of vehicle crime.

They are connected to networks which organise high-end vehicle thefts and fake road smashes to pocket insurance.

Luxury cars such as Lamborghinis are being used in the finance racket.

Car theft rates have declined in recent years, meaning the syndicates have been forced to find other options to make money from the industry.

Niall Coburn, the principal of Coburn Corporate Intelligence, said organised criminals were using forgeries as a key component of their activities.

“There’s an increase in internet fraud (for car loans) because the way people report documents,” Mr Coburn said.

“I’ve seen these documents and they are almost impossible to distinguish from legitimate application. You cannot tell the difference.

“Instead of stealing cars it is far more common to take out a loan with fraudulent documents.

Mr Coburn said those selling cars needed to check the bonafides of people they were dealing with.

MORE NEWS

INSIDE TRUMP’S RED CARPET DINNER FOR SCOMO

POLICE NAB TWO FOR DRUG-DRIVING

BIKIE BUSTED FOR SNAPCHAT DRUG DEAL

McGrath Nicol partner Robin Tarr said criminal syndicates used falsified information or stole identities from members of the public.

“One thing maybe not everyone considers is that loan fraud in general is much more common in Australia,” he said.

“Particularly when fraudsters have the opportunity to provide information isn’t going to be verified and validated to the extent it necessarily should be.

“We’re seeing a lot of instances where the general public’s emails are compromised … Criminals are able to file this identity and information and then use it to take applications out for loans.

“Lenders really need to think about how to manage that risk.”