KUALA LUMPUR: An Australian marine engineer who lost his car in a scam that targeted those who sell their vehicles online is exasperated with what he perceives as a lack of seriousness by the authorities in acting against the culprits.
Scott John Bennet, 44, has filed a civil suit for the return of his car.
Bennet, who works for a Johor-based luxury yacht manufacturer, said he had placed an advertisement in a popular trading website last November to sell his Mini Countryman S. Days later, he received a call from a potential buyer.
“The man, who identified himself as Sam, said he was an agent for a company and agreed to buy the car for RM162,000.”
On Nov 19, Bennet drove the car to Kuala Lumpur where he met Sam and two men purportedly from the Road Transport Department (RTD) branch at Bandar Sri Permaisuri.
Bennet was given a banker’s cheque for the agreed sum and the ownership transfer was carried out at the RTD branch.
He deposited the cheque into his bank account but two days later the cheque was rejected by the bank. He later learned it was a dud bank draft. He then lodged a police report.
“The biggest hassle was dealing with the police, who were mostly unhelpful. They did not put in any effort, nor keep me in the loop. Basically, they seemed uninterested.”
Bennet then went to the Australian consulate where he was advised to engage a lawyer. A private investigator was also hired to trace the suspects.
Later, a man was arrested and the car seized by police. At an identification parade later, Bennet identified the individual who gave him the dud cheque.
But his troubles took a turn for the worse. The suspect was freed on bail. “We learned that he had already sold the car and transferred ownership within two days of buying it from me.”
The used-car dealer then obtained a court order to retrieve the vehicle from the police. Bennet said that at the hearing, the police failed to inform the court of his report, the fraud that led to him losing his car or that a suspect had been held.
“The car is gone. The criminals are gone. I feel we are now in this situation because of the poor decisions by the police.”
Bennet has filed an appeal in court to reverse the decision to hand the car over to the used-car dealer.
Cheras district police chief ACP Mohamed Mohsein Mohamed Zon said a warrant of arrest had been issued for the suspect, and Bennet could meet him to discuss the matter.
It is learnt that the suspect is a 29-year-old who is believed to have pulled off several such scams. He is high on the wanted list of Selangor police and at least two other states.
In May, Selangor police released photos of him and another suspect to the media to seek public help to trace them.
Bennet spoke to theSun after reading the paper’s front page story – published in April – on how a doctor in Klang had lost his Range Rover Evoque worth RM196,000 in a similar scam.
The victim, Dr Charles Hedwig Fernandez, had hired a private investigator to track down the suspects and two months ago, a runner for the syndicate involved in Fernandez’s case was charged for cheating.
