What is the ghost garage scam that avoids PV?

Regularly observed in the Paris region and in the North, a trick allows motorists to break the Highway Code without being penalized.

According to

, the latter use a vehicle belonging to a fictitious company, most often a garage.

They drive cars that don't belong to anyone...

Questioned by our colleagues, the investigators evoke a "fault in the system", a "blind spot".

A ploy made possible by the Internet and the ease with which anyone can create a company or obtain a registration certificate.

Previously used in the context of drug trafficking, and in particular go fast, the scheme would now be adopted by individuals to avoid paying their PV.

A well-crafted fraud

According to a Roubaix police officer approached by

, all the scammers need to do is create a ghost garage electronically, then sell vehicle transfer certificates with the stamp of the fictitious company.

The future user then presents these documents to a center approved by the State in order to register the vehicle.

The agent evokes a “win-win system”: the new owner of the vehicle pays the bogus mechanic in cash and is therefore not identifiable.

The latter takes a margin on the sale without declaring it to the tax authorities.

Victims of identity theft

But this fraudulent practice has victims, and not only the Treasury.

The process very often includes identity theft, which is synonymous with a nightmare for the people concerned.

Thus, a university professor was asked to pay more than 300,000 euros in increased fines, not to mention the loss of his license points.

A salesperson must reimburse 200,000 euros for offenses he did not commit, being in spite of himself at the head of a fleet of 270 vehicles.

Their lawyer recently attacked the Ministry of the Interior before the Paris administrative court.

She claims more than 150,000 euros in compensation for the damage caused to her customers.

Faced with this phenomenon, the fight is organized.

At the beginning of June, the commercial court of Ivry (Essonne) ordered the cancellation of the Grand Tourismo Auto company to which several hundred vehicles were attached.

But these closures are rare.

They concern one ghost garage in ten or fifteen, according to an investigator interviewed by the

.

Justice

Savoie: He frauds at the toll thanks to an expired ticket to save €10

Victim of identity theft, he must repay 20 million euros

• Fraud

• Scam

• Automotive

• Company