Express & Star

Willenhall pair to stand trial over car fraud

Two people are to face trial charged with fraud over allegations they forged MOT certificates, vehicle service booklets and tampered with mileage clocks to give lower readings.

Published
Wolverhampton crown court

The pair allegedly turned back the readings on vehicles by thousands of miles, with one car changed by as much as 68,000 miles, it is claimed.

Gurdip Sohal, aged 59, and close family friend Rupinder Singh, 26, are alleged to have carried out the offences in the West Midlands and Staffordshire between September 2012 and December 2013.

Jaswinder Kaur, 61, who is the wife of Sohal, is charged with money laundering involving £20,000 in relation to the offences.

The two family members live at Lichfield Road, Willenhall, Wolverhampton.

Their family friend Singh lives at Pinson Road, Willenhall.

Sohal also faced allegations of laundering more than £28,000 in relation to four cars being sold.

They include a Range Rover which was allegedly sold in Smethwick in September 2012 for £4,980, and a Volkswagen Golf, which was sold for £3,395 in November 2012, also in Smethwick.

In Walsall, they are accused of selling an Audi A5 for £13,000 in May 2013 after altering the mileage clock to read 57,000 miles instead of 112,000 miles.

In Smethwick during March 2013, they are said to have changed the mileage on a Honda Civic from 109,000 miles down to to 41,000 before selling it for £7,920.

Sohal is accused of two counts of conspiracy to defraud and four charges of money laundering.

Singh faces the two conspiracy to defraud charges only.

And Kaur faces two allegations of money laundering.

All three – Sohal, his wife Kaur and Singh – denied all the charges levelled against them when they appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on September 14.

They were remanded on unconditional bail to stand trial at the same court on August 13 next year.

Gurdip Sohal’s son Inderjit, who lives at the same address and is accused of similar offences to his father, was unwell and unable to attend court.

The 30-year-old son will enter his pleas at a later date.