MP suspects police link to car theft rings

Segambut DAP MP Lim Lip Eng alleged that several police personnel are in cahoots with stolen car syndicates nationwide and he urged Bukit Aman to probe the matter.

Lim (left), who lodged a report at the Jinjang police station today, claimed that cars reported stolen by the owners were later found by the cops, but reconditioned and given to syndicates to be resold to second-hand car dealers or private owners.

"I've received over 15 complaints since December last year from second-hand car dealers that have yet to be solved, as out of the 60 cars confiscated from them - which were believed to be stolen goods - only fewer than 20 have been returned," he said.

Lim said he only lodged a report on the matter today as he had recently obtained evidence indicating there has been foul play.

He referred to a police report where a victim had alleged his Mercedes C200 Compressor had been stolen on March 13, 2009 and had made an insurance claim.

In an undated letter from the Criminal Investigation Department of Ampang Jaya district police headquarters and signed by inspector Saiful Irwan Abdul Hamid, it was stated the car was found and returned to its owner, but according to Lim, the owner never collected the car.

Instead the same car, with a different registration number, was then allegedly bought by a second-hand car dealer, Pang Koo Tak, from Setiawan, Perak.

Missing car later confiscated by police

To Pang's surprise, said Lim, the car was confiscated on Jan 19 by a police officer named Razlam Ab Hamid of Bukit Aman's disciplinary department for further investigations as the chassis number was the same as that of the stolen vehicle.

Lim said Pang had approached him for help to get back the car, as he was still servicing the hire-and-purchase loan.

"My question is, shouldn't the car be blacklisted? The owner bought the car after he checked its registration with the Road Transport Department (RTD) and the car was inspected by Puspakom Sdn Bhd.

"My suspicions are that the car was found by the police and later cleared thoroughly by the RTD and Puspakom, and then given to syndicates to channel it to buyers," alleged Lim.

"The office from Bukit Aman's disciplinary department is investigating their own department, so there must be suspicion of some sort against the police officers involved," he alleged.

Lim added that those who bought the reconditioned cars that are now confiscated are being victimised as they are still servicing their loans.

"This includes the insurance companies which had paid off customers who had lodged reports claiming that their cars were stolen," he said.

Lim urged Bukit Aman to probe the police officers allegedly involved in selling stolen cars to third parties without the knowledge of the insurance companies.