With a large-scale action, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office took action against a gang that is said to have illegally traded in vehicles.

In addition, the accused are charged with gang and commercial fraud, forgery of documents and sales tax evasion.

A spokesman for the public prosecutor's office spoke on Wednesday morning of an extensive investigation complex in which several police headquarters from Hesse, but also from other federal states, had participated. 

Katharina Iskandar

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Police searched the homes of nine suspects and their relatives in Hesse and Bavaria.

Two suspects were arrested on the basis of arrest warrants from the Offenbach District Court.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the suspects are members of several interconnected family associations in the Rhine-Main area.

The searches took place in Frankfurt, Hanau, Offenbach, Nuremberg and the Augsburg district.

Forged vehicle documents

The accused, aged between 17 and 29, are among other things suspected of having joined together as members of a gang to rent high-quality vehicles based on a division of labor and then to sell them using forged vehicle documents. In 2020, the accused are said to have rented and partially sold ten vehicles with a total value of more than 400,000 euros. In order to cover up the car, the accused are said to have changed the appearance of some of the cars and forged registration certificates. The registration badges were taken from, among other things, stolen vehicle license plates, as it is said.

The accused are said to have offered the cars for sale on trading platforms on the Internet and in some cases also sold them there.

Both when renting and selling, the accused are said to have used forged or stolen third-party identification documents, the Attorney General said.

Two people before the judge

The arrested are a 29-year-old German citizen from Frankfurt and a 21-year-old man from Offenbach, also with German citizenship.

They were brought before the judge at the Offenbach District Court and are in custody.

The investigators have secured a lot of evidence, the spokesman continued.

These include cell phones and data carriers, forged identity and vehicle documents and crime clothes.

The investigators also found blank vaccination cards as a "chance find".

The public prosecutor's office spoke on Wednesday of an investigation complex against members of family associations "with clan-like structures in Hesse".

The tax damage assigned to this group so far alone is said to amount to around three million euros.

According to current estimates, the amounts of money obtained through fraud amount to around 2.6 million euros.