Sun, Jul 21, 2002 page4

• Police accused of incompetence

  AGGRAVATING THEFT A thief was able to claim ownership of a stolen car and then sell it by using fake identity documents

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  A legislator yesterday panned the police for their failure to catch a car thief and retrieve a stolen vehicle before it was sold to a new owner.

  "The police have done nothing for the victim ever since the car was reported stolen," PFP Legislator Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) said at a press conference at her office in the Legislative Yuan.

  Chin said she had been asked by the owner of the stolen vehicle, Weng Shun-fu (翁順福), to hold a press conference because he was unhappy with the way police had handled the case.

  Weng's wife, identified only by her surname, Lee, told the story on her husband's behalf yesterday.

  Lee said that Weng's 1997 Mercedes S320 sedan, which was registered under his company's name, was stolen from their garage parking space in Chiayi City on March 10. The theft had been reported immediately to the police.

  On March 12, a man called the couple, demanding a NT$150,000 ransom for the car. The couple wired the money to two bank accounts. But they never got their car back.

  On Apr. 19, Weng's insurance company paid him NT$772,965 in compensation, based on the car's depreciation. The couple had paid NT$3.2 million when they bought the car in 1997.

  Nearly 10 weeks later, on July 1, the Chiayi Police Department told the couple that somebody claiming to be the car's owner reported the vehicle had been found and closed the case at Pingtung County Police Department's Chaochou Precinct.

  Chaochou Precinct Chief Chen Chi-jung (陳志榮) insists his officers did everything by the book. But he admitted that errors might have been made.

  "According to our case file, a man, claiming to be the owner of the missing car, showed up at our precinct around 10am on July 1," Chen said. "He said that his missing car had been found and wanted to close the case."

  Chen said that the officer on duty had examined the car before completing the necessary paperwork. The officer noted in the record that the car's license plates were missing. The vehicle identification number, however, was the same as the missing Mercedes.

  The officer asked the man for the receipt police give a car owner who has reported a missing vehicle and for the vehicle's registration.

  "The man told our officer that he had lost the receipt and that he had not retrieved the vehicle registration which had been in the car when it was stolen," Chen said.

  "He produced a fake photo-identity card and a fake company registration document. In addition, he insisted on using his chop instead of a fingerprint on the file record, so we have no way to track this man, who is now suspected of being the thief," Chen said.

  The precinct chief was unable to explain why the correct procedures had not been followed or why the man's documents were verified in his presence.

  The same man apparently also managed to convince the Pingtung County Department of Motor Vehi-cles (DMV) that he was the real owner. According to the DMV, someone apparently used forged documents to report the car's license plates missing. A new pair of plates were issued on July 1.

  On July 11, the insurance company called Weng to tell him the Mercedes had been sold to a man called Kuo (郭) in Hualien.

  The company also demanded Weng repay the NT$772,965 in compensation because the car had been found.

  "How could the police fail to catch a suspect who was using fake identification cards and documents? Can't the police tell? What's wrong with them?" Chin said.

  The lawmaker said that besides being upset about losing the car, "the couple are upset about the attitude of the police."

  She urged the police to contact the car's new owner to see if he can help them catch the thief as well as help the couple get the vehicle back.
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