UK’s ‘stolen’ cars shipped to Malta

Hundreds of motorists in Malta could unknowingly be driving cars linked to an organised cross-border fraud racket although they would have bought UK-imported vehicles in good faith, the police have warned.

The scheme has been operating for at least two years, investigators believe. Criminal groups obtain vehicles on finance with no intention of repaying the loans, export them before they are flagged as stolen and sell them to unsuspecting buyers.

“We estimate there are hundreds of vehicles that have reached Malta through this type of crime,” Police Inspector Shawn Pawney, who heads the Criminal Investigation Department’s stolen vehicle squad, told Times of Malta. “In many cases, the people who bought them here had no idea there was anything wrong with them.”

Pawney, who took over the unit last November, said investigators identified a pattern involving high-value vehicles arriving from the UK.

Unlike a conventional car theft, the vehicles are initially acquired legally. Organised crime groups obtain finance to buy new or nearly new vehicles ‒ typically luxury models such as Range Rovers, Porsches, Audis and high-end Toyotas ‒ without any intention of continuing the repayments.

“The crime lies in the intent,” Pawney said. “The plan from the outset is to acquire the vehicle on finance, move it out of the country and sell it.”

Investigators believe those behind the scheme frequently use fake identities or shell companies set up solely to obtain finance for multiple vehicles before disappearing. The cars are then shipped out of the UK and are re-registered, a process the police describe as a form of “layering” designed to disguise their history. Some vehicles are shipped directly to Malta and others arrive via countries such as Germany and France. Most are transported by sea.

Police believe most Maltese buyers are innocent victims

The fraud often goes unnoticed for months because finance companies keep receiving repayments. By the time payments stop and the registered owner cannot be contacted, the vehicle has often been exported, imported into Malta and sold.

Because the vehicle has not yet been reported stolen, routine registration checks raise no alarms, allowing unsuspecting buyers to believe everything is in order.

Police believe most Maltese buyers are innocent victims.

“So far, most of the people we’ve dealt with appear to have bought the vehicles in good faith,” Pawney said.

Under Maltese law, investigators must prove that someone knowingly handled stolen property before criminal charges can be considered. Paying a fair market price for a vehicle with no obvious warning signs is often evidence that the buyer had no criminal intent.

Many owners discover the problem only after the police receive information from overseas or when they later try to sell, transfer, register or take the vehicle abroad.

Although some vehicles have been seized, including several in recent investigations, not all can simply be confiscated.

A recent court case involving a Range Rover highlighted how the fraud unfolds in practice. Earlier this month, Ali Ragab Ali Alhamrouni, 31, was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for four years, after admitting to possessing a stolen Range Rover worth around €80,000 when he arrived in Malta from Sicily. Pawney had told the court the case formed part of a series of similar cases involving the same modus operandi.

During the interview, Pawney said that, in the case of that court case, the police were alerted when they noticed a left-hand drive car coming to Malta, by sea, with a registration in Germany, where they drive on the right.

He went on to explain that, in many cases, no crime actually takes place in Malta. “You’re dealing with different jurisdictions, different legal systems and complicated cross-border court proceedings,” he said.

Some vehicles are ultimately returned to finance companies or their rightful owners and others remain with their Maltese owners.

The police are working closely with overseas law enforcement agencies to identify the organised crime groups behind the scheme, trace the vehicles’ routes into Malta and determine whether local individuals or companies facilitate the trade.

Pawney said the stolen vehicle squad now routinely checks the history of UK-registered vehicles and has strengthened cooperation with the British police to identify suspect vehicles before they reach the local market.

The police are urging anyone considering buying a UK-imported vehicle, particularly a high-value model, to carry out additional checks before completing the purchase. Prospective buyers can contact the stolen vehicle squad at [email protected] to check a vehicle’s history before purchasing it.

“Prevention is always better than dealing with the consequences afterwards,” Pawney said.