Three fraudsters who pocketed £1.07 million from a second-hand car scam have been ordered to pay back £488,000.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court has told father-and-sons Guiseppe, Giovanni and Savatori Oliverio to cough up the cash within 16 weeks - or they will be jailed.
The proceeds of crime hearing comes more than a year after they were sentenced for their roles in the two-year conspiracy linked to Tunstall Trade Car Sales.
The court heard:
- Tunstall Trade Car Sales owner Guiseppe Oliverio, aged 53, of Pinnox Street, Tunstall, was jailed for two years and eight months after admitting fraudulent trading, conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to apply false trademarks and perverting the course of justice. He must pay back £339,107 - with £51,000 set aside to compensate victims;
- Giovanni Oliverio, aged 29, of Latebrook Close, Goldenhill, was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to apply false trademarks. He must pay back £69,780;
- Savatori Oliverio, aged 22, of Pinnox Street, was handed a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after admitting conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to apply false trademarks. He must pay back £79,488.
Guiseppe Oliverio - who was described as the 'prime mover' in the scam - provided logbooks with fake stamps to make buyers think motors had been serviced so he could sell them at a higher price.
But they did not have a full service history and he was rumbled when Stoke-on-Trent Trading Standards was inundated with complaints about the company.
There were 19 victims of fraudulent transactions or intended fraudulent transactions, which totalled about £120,000.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council launched the investigation and has today welcomed the court result.
A spokesman said: “The original investigation was a very important, lengthy and complex case. It sends a clear message to others who break the law that crime does not pay."
The Oliverio family ran the car dealership from Nile Street, in Burslem, and Hand Street, in Tunstall. A fourth defendant - 51-year-old mechanic Robert Machin, of no fixed address - was locked up for 12 months after admitting intending to pervert the course of public justice.
Following the proceeds of crime hearing, Detective Constable Mark Kelsall, from Staffordshire Police, said: "We’re pleased with the confiscation order.”
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