Man arrested for 'transforming' nearly 4,000 stolen vehicles into brand-new cars.
Within two years, Bui Van Tan sold 3,911 vehicles, earning tens of billions of dong in illicit profits.
On December 15th, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Agency initiated a criminal case, indicted and detained Bui Van Tan (born in 1983, residing in Xuan Thoi Thuong commune, Hoc Mon district) and 8 accomplices for investigation into the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.
During the registration and issuance of license plates for motorcycles and mopeds, which is the responsibility of district-level police, the Ho Chi Minh City Police, together with the Task Force of Department C08 - Ministry of Public Security, discovered several files for first-time vehicle registrations with many irregularities.
Upon inspection, signs of altered chassis and engine numbers were discovered, so the vehicle was temporarily seized for further examination.
Police determined that, since 2021, Bui Van Tan had colluded with Le Van Toi to purchase motorcycles of unknown origin and without registration papers from pawn shops in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces, or from classified ads on social media...
To legitimize the vehicles without proper documentation, Tan purchased factory quality inspection certificates for motorcycles at prices ranging from 500,000 to 1 million VND per certificate.
Afterward, Tan brought the motorcycles of unknown origin to Phat Dat repair shop (in Binh Chanh district), owned by Nguyen Huu Oai and Nguyen Huu Nhu.
Tan hired someone to grind and re-engrave the chassis and engine numbers to match the chassis and engine numbers on the factory quality inspection certificate of the vehicle he had previously purchased, for a fee of 1 million VND per vehicle.
In order to maximize the illicit profits, Bui Van Tan continued to instruct the technical staff of Tan Tien 1 and Tan Tien 2 stores, which he owned, to refurbish motorcycles into "used" or "new" vehicles to sell to customers, with the promise of guaranteeing vehicle registration for customers.
In addition, Tan instructed Nguyen Trung Thong to contact brokers to arrange motorcycle registration services.
Initial investigations indicate that from 2021 to 2023, Bui Van Tan sold 3,911 motorcycles to customers in many provinces and cities nationwide. In 2023 alone, he sold 1,549 motorcycles, earning approximately 15 billion VND in illicit profits.
The police are currently expanding their investigation to clarify signs of deceiving customers, harboring and consuming property obtained through crimes committed by others, and other violations in the entire car buying and selling operation; the role, nature, and extent of the violations of the individuals involved in order to strictly handle them according to the law.
At the same time, the authorities are clarifying the origin of more than 10,000 factory release forms and tracing the origin of the motorcycles that this group sold on the market in order to detect and thoroughly handle any violations.
