Charges raised against gang selling stolen, embezzled vehicles in Hungary

Charges have been raised against members of two international gangs that sold stolen or embezzled vehicles with fake documents and chassis numbers.

One Italian member of a gang of Italian, Hungarian, Romanian and Libyan men is charged with having obtained stolen and embezzled high-value cars between 2017 and 2019, the Bács-Kiskun County Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday. Several of the vehicles had been rented in Italy with fake documents and then sent to the gang’s Italian procurer. He would then send photos of the vehicles to the Romanian member of the group, who would arrange for the cars he liked to be driven to Hungary by another Italian member of the gang.

The Libyan and Hungarian members of the gang obtained the cars well below market price and then sold them at or near market price with fake registration certificates and documents using fake sales contracts. A member of another gang has been charged with selling stolen industrial machinery and tractors in Hungary.

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The gang of five obtained some of the vehicles at a third of their market price before selling them for high markups. The two gangs collaborated on the sale of 11 high-value cars and eight industrial vehicles over a two-year period.

Investigators seized the vehicles from their buyers in Hungary. The Bács-Kiskun County Prosecutor’s Office has indicted 14 people on charges of the sale of stolen goods, forgery of public documents, abuse of a unique identifier and fraud.