Dealers in used car racket: Silence and denials

Updated at 4:12pm with police reaction

Rokku Autodealer and Tal-Qasab Autosales are the car dealerships behind a racket in which customers are sold second hand Japanese cars with tampered mileage, MaltaToday can confirm.

In an exclusive report on Sunday, MaltaToday revealed how hundreds of consumers were sold second-hand Japanese cars with tampered mileage gauges, in a racket involving at least two car dealerships.

This newspaper is now in a position to confirm that the dealers under the spotlight are Rokku Autodealer of Għaxaq, operated by Roderick Vella, and Tal-Qasab Autosales of Qormi, operated by brothers Chris Spiteri and Alex Spiteri.

Spiteri refused to comment when contacted, telling MaltaToday that he will react through his lawyer.

Vella denied any wrong doing when contacted, insisting the newspaper was not informed with all the facts.

“People say a lot of things,” he said. “I have been in this line of work for years, and I have a family.”

He blamed this on other dealers who were trying to tarnish his name. “I don’t stand to benefit from such acts.”

However, he did confirm that some customers have reached out to him over the issue of tampered mileage and was collecting information to resolve the matter. “We will check the cars, and then we will move forward.”

A few minutes after the two men were contacted by this newspaper, their lawyer, Franco Debono, reached out and said they would not be commenting further on the case. Debono is representing both of them. 

An exercise carried out by MaltaToday on a sample of 18 cars flagged by multiple industry sources, shows discrepancies ranging between 30,000km and 130,000km between the original mileage and the one registered in Malta.

Scores of customers have since reached out to this newspaper with details as to how they were defrauded when buying second-hand cars.

Despite an ongoing investigation by the authorities, sources have said the two are yet to be interrogated by the police. 

When contacted the police confirmed that "investigations are ongoing" but insisted that "it is not prudent to divulge further information".

READ ALSO: Used car importers group suspend dealerships involved in tampered mileage racket

Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia

Zero tolerance

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia said the transport regulator had already made contact with the police on the racket concerning tampered mileage.

“I have zero tolerance for any type of irregularity and the police will find all the help they need and cooperation from my end and Transport Malta’s new CEO in its investigation of this case and any other investigation there may be in the future,” Farrugia said.

Former army commander, Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi was appointed CEO at TM and formally starts in his new post today.

How to check if your car has been tampered with

1. Check your chassis number. The number can be found on your licence disc or log book.

2. Go to: https://members.jevic.com

3. If you have a popup blocker disable it

4. Enter the chassis number in the required field

5. The JEVIC certificate will be issued

6. Compare your current mileage with the mileage on the certificate

7. If you have less mileage on your instrument cluster than on your JEVIC certificate, contact your car dealer for an explanation, and also report the case to your local police station