Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1491153
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 JANUARY 2023 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI POLICE bail for the used-car dealers who are facing allega- tions of odometer tampering has been extended by three months. Sources told this newspaper that police investigations into the alleged fraud are still ongo- ing, seven months after Malta- Today revealed the racket. The two dealerships – Rokku and Tal-Qasab – have seen their police bail renewed and are yet to be charged by the police. In an exclusive report, this newspaper had revealed how hundreds of consumers have been sold second-hand Japa- nese cars with tampered mileage gauges, in a racket involving at least two car dealerships. Cars bought from Japanese bidding markets on the cheap because of their high mileage, would then be sold in Malta – however these had their odome- ters tampered to show low mile- ages. An exercise carried out by Mal- taToday on a sample of 18 cars flagged by multiple industry sources, revealed discrepancies ranging between 30,000km and 130,000km between the original mileage and the one registered in Malta. Crucially, industry sources told MaltaToday that the rack- et starts the moment the cars arrive in Malta: when they are offloaded at Laboratory Wharf in the Grand Harbour, the police have to fill in the Vehicle 5 (VEH 005) customs and police inspec- tion form. The manual form contains sev- eral fields, including one where the car's dashboard mileage is listed. However, it appeared that deal- ers often use the excuse that the car battery has been drained throughout their voyage at sea on the cargo ship, preventing the dashboard mileage from be- ing read by the inspecting police officers. In these instances, the inspec- tor leaves the mileage field blank so that the dealer can fill it in lat- er, when the car is restarted us- ing a booster. Sources indicated that although there may be gen- uine cases of car batteries that fall flat, many times these would have been disconnected by the dealer. Rokku and Tal-Qasab have continued to operate, despite being interrogated by the police last October. It is still unclear when, or if, they will be charged. Following the MaltaToday in- vestigation, Transport Malta in- creased its scrutiny of documen- tation presented by car dealers who import used vehicles from Japan. The regulator has stepped in to supplant a process previous- ly manned by police officers, to verify the mileage declared in documentation from importers, with data available in JEVIC da- tabases. Transport Minister Farrugia said the logbooks and other ve- hicle documentation connected to the case are in the process of being replaced and updated ac- cording to the actual mileage. "TM has sent a letter to anyone affected to inform them of this," he said. Odometer fraud: Dealers get three months' police bail extension