Retail Motor Law

A used car dealer who ran Britain's largest 'car clocking' scam was jailed after a suspicious buyer alerted the authorities.

Emat Ghulamhan, 26, and Noor Ahmed Sadiqi, 42, earned an estimated £250,000 profit from selling 320 vehicles which had their mileage illegally reduced.

The two ran a dealership called Emat and Son Cars in Southall, West London. The criminal investigation began after the customer from Harrow complained to Brent and Harrow Trading Standards in May 2008 about her purchase of a Volkswagen Polo. Two weeks after purchasing the Polo the customer visited the AutoTrader website and found the car she had part exchanged advertised with significantly reduced mileage.

The customer then contacted the previous owner of the Volkswagen Polo she had purchased and discovered the real mileage was not 51,000 but 97,000.

The pair were jailed for 27 months each at Isleworth Crown Court in December 2009 after both admitted conspiracy to defraud.