September 10, 2004
Feds bust up $20 million chop shop operation
Astra Motor Cars, a salvage yard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was a front for a "chop shop" operation that produced $20 million in revenues and funded a burgeoning real estate empire that stretched out to the suburbs of Long Island. The salvage yard was shut down last year, but federal prosecutors have finally revealed the fruit of their investigation into the men behind the operation, indicting 11 of them.
Like other chop shops, they would take in stolen vehicles and either "chop" them up and sell the parts or replace vehicle's VIN and sell them. Unlike other chop shops (presumably), they used the proceeds of this illegal enterprise to buy mini-malls, apartment buildings, and shopping centers.
The masterminds of the enterprise had a number of ways to make money through the yard, some of which were pretty creative. They sold parts and whole cars, rented out stolen cars for exorbitant prices, stole from other criminals, and re-titled and sold wrecked cars to unwitting buyers. The indictment also alleges that rather than simply wait around for the stolen cars to arrive, they ran an auto theft ring. In fact, they'd steal a car, strip out the usable parts, and leave the rest behind, only to buy it back at a public auction and then sell it again.
They also rented out vehicles with hollow compartments to drug dealers for up to $30,000 a day. For that price, I would have hoped they'd have the car waiting with the trunk open and the keys in the ignition when the dealers came in from the airport. Instead, one of the ringleaders installed a GPS device on a car he sold to some Albanian drug dealers, tracked down the car, and stole the drugs (30 kilos) out of it! Very entrepreneurial!
Source: NYT
categories:
Brooklyn,
Fraud,
Motor Vehicle
posted by adm at September 10, 2004 12:19 AM
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