Motherwell is car fraud hotspot

Jun 15 2011 by Robert Mitchell, Wishaw Press

CAR crime is rampant in Motherwell – according to figures that reveal the town is a hotspot for motor finance fraud.

The town is the fifth worst in Britain for the offence, just behind major cities like London, Glasgow and Manchester.

Watchdogs have expressed their surprise at Motherwell ranking so high on the crime tables and suspect organised gangs have moved into the area.

Paul Harrison, head of motor finance at the Finance and Leasing Association, said: “In our hotspots for the first three months of 2011, we see what we expect – London, Manchester and Glasgow – but we also see what we don’t expect and that’s Motherwell. Its likely proximity to major crime centres has influenced these statistics.

“It’s likely that Motherwell is the inadvertent victim of organised criminal gangs targeting motor dealerships in new areas.”

The FLA works with the Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service to combat financial crime relating to motor vehicles; the VCIS is a national police unit dedicated to investigating and recovering fraudulently-obtained vehicles, and prosecuting offenders. Acting as the eyes and ears for the police, contributing finance companies are able to report suspected fraudulent cases to the unit for investigation and recovery.

Motherwell was last week revealed as a surprising hotspot for motor finance fraud, in figures released by the FLA, which show that in the first three months of 2011, it was fifth in the country for the number of reported cases of motor finance fraud, just behind the larger population centres of Greater London, Glasgow and Manchester, but ahead of large cities like Birmingham and Newcastle.

The increase in fraud in the Motherwell area helped to contribute to a 17 per cent increase nationwide in the number of frauds in the first three months of 2011. However, dealers and finance companies are still spotting the vast majority of fraudulent activity at the finance application stage – where over 2000 potential frauds were stopped.

Mr Harrison added: “Finance companies continue to work hard to combat financial crime to help make our roads safer and keep the cost of finance down for customers. Our work with the police to catch these fraudsters is helping to prosecute organised gangs, and removing their cars which can be used involved in very serious crimes such as drug trafficking.”