15-05-2025
Flintshire Council comments as car dealer is jailed
In April, Zana Muhammed was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to one count of participating in fraudulent business carried on by a sole trader.
The 42-year-old, from Prince's Street in Flint, had, between February 2021 and June 2023, 'dishonestly sold motor vehicles' to customers resulting in a £300,000 loss overall.
The vehicles sold by Muhammed were either classed as Category S (eg suffered serious structural damage) or Category N vehicles (bodywork damage, suspension, steering, brakes etc).
Nineteen witness statements were provided in the case, with 'at least another 36' vehicles having been sold.
The case was brought by Flintshire County Council's Trading Standards Team after they received multiple complaints from customers across the UK, who had purchased cars from The Old Ambulance Station, Chester Road in Flint.
Customers stated they were never told the cars were insurance write offs and they only found out after buying them.
Extensive investigations carried out by Trading Standards officers found a significant number of Category N and Category S written off cars were being obtained from salvage auctions and were later being advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace and eBay.
There was no mention within the adverts of them being write offs and in some cases, the adverts were changed after purchase to include this information in an attempt to suggest it was there in the first place.
Some cars broke down leaving customers with significant repair bills, sometimes thousands of pounds, for cars they would not have bought if they had known they were insurance write offs.
Commenting on the sentencing, Councillor Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Planning, Public Health and Public Protection said: 'Despite being advised by Trading Standards officers, Mr Muhammed continued to fail to declare that the cars were insurance write offs. Whilst selling insurance write offs is not illegal, withholding this information is illegal and it must be made known to prospective customers to allow them to make an informed decision before buying a car."
IN OTHER CRIME NEWS
Cllr Bithell added: 'This case shows that Flintshire Trading Standards take these matters seriously and will investigate and prosecute where necessary, in order to protect the public and legitimate car traders. Our advice to consumers is to do thorough checks before buying a car, such as HPI reports, MOT history, service history, test drive the car and always ask for a receipt.'
Sentencing Muhammed, Judge Simon Mills said this was a case of 'sophisticated' and 'well thought out' offending.
The judge added: "The purchase of a car is one of the most significant financial agreements that people undertake. Customers need to know that they can buy a car from a dealer in confidence of knowing they're getting a safe and roadworthy vehicle.
"Yet, for well over two years you sold cars to customers without telling them they were insurance write-offs. You repeatedly told lies about the history of the cars. You ignored complaints from customers and Trading Standards.
Muhammed was sentenced to four years in prison.
A Proceeds Of Crime Act investigation into the matter is ongoing ahead of a hearing on September 12.
