Chassis number fraud reported by Revenue Office

Jun 24, 2008 News

– changes not allowed on vehicles’ registrations – Tanner

The Licence Revenue Office (LRO) is warning that it does not allow changes of chassis numbers on vehicles’ Certificates of Registration.
According to Director (ag) of the LRO, Whentworth Tanner, his office is not legally bound to facilitate this process, since there is no one in Guyana legally authorized to reconstruct motor vehicles.
Reconstructed vehicles pose a safety risk to their occupants, he stressed.
With the importation of motor vehicle parts, including chassis and engines, several crashed vehicles are being reconstructed for use, and there are instances when chassis numbers and/or engine numbers stated on the Certificate of Registration are altered (but not according to official records).
According to the official, in recent times, there has been an increase in the number of requests to facilitate changes in chassis numbers on the Certificates of Registration.
GRA Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur reiterated that, “There would be no opening in the LRO system, since this would create ways for unscrupulous persons to continue to defraud the revenue system through the illegal importation of motor vehicles and securing counterfeit documents.”
The Toyota brand motor vehicle seems to be the ones most reconstructed. Motor vehicles are generally reconstructed following accidents which incur extensive damage.
Currently, the Licence Revenue Office has several stringent measures in place to counter the prevalence of counterfeiting and other licencing irregularities. The LRO is also in the process of sanitizing its database.
“Already, a five-working-day waiting period has been introduced with effect from February 25, 2007 for persons desirous of uplifting copies of lost documents and the registration of trailers, to facilitate a verification process,” a statement from the Guyana Revenue Authority said yesterday.
Once a reconstructed vehicle is resold, the person purchasing it would not be able to have the ownership transferred into his name.
“All motor vehicles are subject to inspection before a transfer of registration/ownership is completed,” Tanner warned.
A person who wants to purchase a motor vehicle from an agent or person is urged to check with the LRO to verify the authenticity of the registration before purchasing the vehicle.
The official explained that several persons were victims of scams pulled off by persons plying the illegal importation trade, and who also falsified documents.
While the importation of motor vehicle parts is a legal trade, the reconstruction of vehicles has the potential to pose serious revenue collection problems for the Guyana Revenue Authority. Over the years, the LRO has been challenged by the prevalence of forged documents, a practice which is rooted in the illegal importation of motor vehicles and motor cycles through the borders.
An official who is knowledgeable in car sales yesterday said that there are many ways people attempt to beat the system at the LRO.
Cars are taken apart in other countries and brought here as parts. They are then re-assembled and sold to ready buyers.
In some cases, a car owner who had a similar model that crashed may buy a reassembled car and just transfer the number plate to the new purchase.
In other cases, cars are said to be stolen and smuggled from neighbouring countries, then fitted with number plates of cars that have been written off after crashes.

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Chassis number fraud reported by Revenue Office

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