Police officials are raising new concerns about a scam being perpetrated by so-called car dealers who take the money of unsuspecting clients and never deliver on the promised vehicles.
Assistant Superintendent Drexel Cartwright, the officer in charge of the Commercial Crime Unit, which is attached to the Central Detective Unit, told The Bahama Journal on Tuesday that stealing by reason of service is a crime that happens all the time, but often goes unnoticed.
“What happens in respect to the matter of stealing by reason of service [is] you have individuals who desire to purchase vehicles, usually from the United States, and in some instances they are given information in respect to an individual or individuals who are known to bring in vehicles for persons who may have gotten a good deal,” he said.
“But we find that these individuals satisfy a few customers at first to sort of build themselves a reputation and in the interim; their sole intention is to defraud these people.”
According to data from the Commercial Crimes Unit, in 2004, stealing by way of service accounted for 14 percent of reported commercial crimes, closely following credit by way of fraud, which accounted for 24 percent of all reported commercial crimes last year.
Detective Inspector Michael Moxey told The Journal that while women are the easiest targets, all Bahamians and residents need to be more aware of the scheme.
“What we are actually saying is that individuals need to be cognizant of the persons that they are dealing with,” Mr. Moxey said. “There are a lot of reputable businesses that are set up and persons should ensure that those are the persons to whom you go and purchase your product.”
Mr. Cartwright explained that in most instances persons are not aware that they are being short-changed until it is too late.
“After the funds are given over to the individuals normally there is a timeline that they will give their victims.They would promise the customers that they will be getting their car within weeks or within three weeks,” Mr. Cartwright said.
“Normally, the buyer only receives a receipt and so there is no contract or anything and you find that after the given time or a month the victims would approach the individual and ask what is the status.”
However, Mr. Cartwright pointed out that some of the most common excuses used by the criminals are, “The car is delayed because of Customs or the new laws in the United States or simply the car hasnﾴt arrived yet. They give one excuse after the next.”
He said there have been charges before the courts in relation to this scam, but not nearly as much as police would like to see.
Mr. Cartwright said many people take too long to make a complaint.
“When people get tired they report the matter to the police, and we have dealt with several persons with respect to this matter and a few have appeared before the courts. Some of them were convicted,” he said.However, what we have found is that these individuals who are responsible normally attempt to pay off as many persons as they could so that they donﾴt appear in court.”
Mr. Cartwright warned that if the deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
“If individuals have handed over funds to a particular car dealer and a time limit is given, as soon as that time expires and nothing happens they should then contact the Commercial Crimes Unit and we will take the matter from there,” he said.
“We would like individuals to have the matter reported to us as soon as possible so that we can have the matter investigated and the persons responsible arrested and prosecuted.”
Royanne Forbes, The Bahama Journal
