Beware of second hand cars

By S. Shivakumar

CHENNAI, DEC. 15. Planning to buy a second-hand car? Be wary, warn the City police, who have recently unravelled a major racket by a gang, which palm off used cars, in a novel way.

The modus-operandi of these con-gangs runs thus: Three nattily dressed men, posing as owners of a construction company, visit a finance firm at Purasawalkam and seek a loan for a brand new luxury car. The loan is immediately sanctioned as these ``gentlemen'' have already greased the palm of the field-level officers who verify documents.

The vice-president of the firm who himself is a retired bank official does not suspect their credentials, and the formalities are completed in a jiffy and they drive away in a new car.

However, instead of fleeing the scene with the new car, they try to gain the confidence of the finance company, by promptly paying the instalments. But that is only for a few months, until the finance company sanctions another loan for another car.

Then, they forge the documents of the cars and dispose them off. And the victim is not just one finance company. The gang, would approach other firms as well, posing as prospective car buyers and would get a loan for the same car!.

After obtaining finance for the same vehicle from different financiers using forged documents, these gangs dispose of the vehicles, through their network of operators.

A shocking fact is that these gangs have been engaged by businessmen for procuring cars at a cheaper price.

Investigation by the police has revealed that these gang members befriended the field-level officers of finance companies. Police suspect that in some cases these officers could be hand in glove with the group but it is yet to be proved.

Allegedly, the key gang leaders behind such rackets are Murthy (55), Robin Mayne (50), Bhaskaran (40) and Ravikumar (42). They have cheated several finance firms in the city and investigation by the Central Crime Branch revealed that these gang members have been in the ``trade'' for the past several years.

While Mayne, who was earlier arrested for similar crimes, is now cooling his heels in the prison cell, Murthy and others continue to elude the police dragnet. Though, Murthy has been on the police records for several years now, he is yet to be arrested even once. ``In all probablility, he must be walking scot free right under the nose of policemen as he will not be recognised'', says a police officer.

Robin Mayne has several aliases such as Thomas, Srinivasan, Chandran and Stanley. He uses one of these names while getting a loan for the same car, a second time. The financiers realise their folly only after a couple of months and there is ample time for these gang members to abscond, the police say.

Investigation by the police has revealed several more startling details. For instance, a jewellery shop owner in Kodambakkam had booked a car with this group. The businessmen knowingly entered into a deal as they could get a vehicle in good condition at a throw-away price. A two-wheeler, apparently bought through ``devious means'', has been seized from the jeweller's house.

Police investigation also showed that one Janakiraman of Pondicherry, who was allegedly involved in illicit liqour business, was a regular customer of this gang since he found these vehicles the best bet for his business which involved transporting illegal consignments. For, even if the vehicles are seized by the police, he would not incur much loss, and moreover he would not be able to get vehicles in good condition for a rock bottom price.

Meanwhile, the police are also probing the links of RTO staff in the racket. Police suspect that some lower level staff of the RTO help these gangs in getting bogus documents.

The advice from the police for those who are going to purchase second hand cars and for financiers is this: do your ground work thoroughly.

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