A scheme racking up C$800,000 ($600,968) in fraudulent auto loans has been busted after a yearlong investigation.
Canada’s Calgary Police Service discovered that two perpetrators had been using stolen identities to obtain financing for vehicles. The victims of identity theft were held responsible for the vehicle loans taken out in their names.
After obtaining vehicles, the perpetrators would replace the VINs in order to resell or refinance the same vehicles — resulting in multiple loans existing at separate financial institutions for a single car. The co-conspirators also falsified loan applications to receive financing for vehicles they didn’t possess.
Investigations identified 10 victims throughout Canada who had their identities stolen. Also, police recovered multiple vehicles — including two Porsche Cayennes, two Range Rovers, a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG, a Dodge Ram, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and an Audi A5 — with a combined value of C$410,000 ($308,000).
Canada’s police force uncovered a “significant amount of evidence in the form of documents and electronic devices,” after executing a search warrant on a residence of one of the perpetrators, Calgary Police Service noted in a press release.
The fraudsters’ prison terms were not disclosed.
