Car dealer, sales executive plead guilty to ‘systematic’ clocking scam

A car dealer from Omagh has been found guilty at Newry Crown Court of advertising and selling 'clocked' cars including reducing the mileage of a VW Scirocco by 52,000 miles.

The Trading Standards Service brought the case against Samuel McConnell, director of SMC Cars & Commercials, and Ryan McKittrick, a sales executive of the same company.

McConnell pleaded guilty to five charges under the Fraud Act 2006. He was sentenced to 240 hours of community service to be completed within 12 months and ordered to pay £7,920 in compensation to the four victims within 12 weeks.

McKittrick also pleaded guilty to five charges under the Fraud Act 2006. He received the same sentence of 240 hours of community service to be completed within 12 months.

The investigation began following a customer complaint that SMC Cars & Commercials was selling vehicles with altered mileages. TSS investigations revealed that the company had sold four such vehicles to unsuspecting consumers, including:

• Peugeot 208: advertised on Gumtree with 89,000 miles but had actually travelled at least 120,597 miles.
• Mercedes: advertised on Gumtree with 92,000 miles; previous recorded mileage was 120,178 miles. It was also a Category N insurance loss, which was not disclosed to the buyer.
• VW Scirocco: previous mileage of 172,980 miles reduced to 121,180 miles.
• Audi A3: sold with 125,000 miles but had previously travelled 148,028 miles. The vehicle was returned due to the mileage discrepancy, but was re-advertised on Gumtree with incorrect mileage and a false service history.

A Trading Standards Service spokesman said: “The number of vehicles uncovered by this investigation and the extent of their mileage alterations indicate a systematic ‘clocking’ operation by these individuals. Cars were purchased with high mileages and sold to consumers with significantly reduced mileages.”