Police seize 61 vehicles in Turkish chassis-swap probe, 35 detained
Investigators in Istanbul say a group swapped chassis numbers from imported collector cars onto cheaper vehicles registered in Turkey. Thirty-five suspects were detained across six provinces.
Thirty-five suspects were detained in an investigation into so-called "change" vehicle fraud, led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Suspects allegedly transferred the chassis numbers of collector cars brought into the country illegally from abroad onto cheaper vehicles registered in Turkey. Investigators say 61 vehicles were altered this way.
How the investigation was carried out
The work was carried out by teams from the Vehicle Theft Bureau under the Public Order Branch of the Istanbul Provincial Police Department. Suspects were reportedly active in Istanbul and Izmir. Investigators determined that the group used reports to resolve mismatches in registration records.
The reports were allegedly prepared improperly by some engineers working at the Turkish Chamber of Mechanical Engineers. The suspects presented the reports to notaries to obtain registration documents and tried to make the chassis changes appear legal. The altered vehicles were allegedly sold, with buyers defrauded. Police seized the vehicles and placed them under protective custody.
Simultaneous raids in six provinces
The probe is being conducted on charges of forming and joining an organized criminal group for criminal purposes, aggravated fraud, forgery of official documents, violating Law No. 5607 on Combating Smuggling, and destroying, concealing or altering evidence.
Raids were carried out at the same time in Istanbul, Batman, Gaziantep, Izmir, Kocaeli and Sakarya. In addition to the 35 detentions, police found 97 cartridges during a search of one suspect's home.
This article was compiled with the help of AI from information published by m.haber7.com.
