help! my car was stolen (fraud) from US & is in Germany! Need help with VIN & ideas! | FerrariChat

help! my car was stolen (fraud) from US & is in Germany! Need help with VIN & ideas!

Discussion in 'Europe' started by Tom(Atl), Jul 24, 2015.

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  1. Tom(Atl)

    Tom(Atl) Formula Junior

    Oct 29, 2006
    507
    USA
    Full Name:
    Tom
    #1 Tom(Atl), Jul 24, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I'm in the US, but *had* a good friend in Germany who I sent my SL 55 AMG (US car) to.
    (Yes I paid shipping and 19% VAT as well). I am going to Germany in two weeks, and I need help researching the VIN to see if I can find where the car really is.

    VINs are:
    WDBSK74F53F040102 (my black SL 55, that I'm more interested in)
    WDBSK74F63F037239 (friends silver SL 55)

    A few years ago I had a black US spec SL55 AMG that I shipped to a "friend" in Germany.
    Another local friend of mine also bought an SL55 (in silver), we shipped both cars in a single 40 foot high cube ocean container to our old friend in Germany (former Audi mechanic) to sell the cars in Germany. We trusted him, knew his family, etc...

    Long story short - I never received any money, and was out the cost of the car + half the shipping container + 19% VAT import tax in Germany.

    The "friend" stole it from me (via method of theft by deception and possible fraud) by telling me it was sold, then later saying it was stolen, and never giving me anything.

    I cannot get any attorneys or local police to help me with this directly. Yes, I have even visited the German consulate in Atlanta and asked for help (they personally know the guy and were not surprised) and even visited his house and his parents house in Germany, which I did on my last trip but with little / no benefit coming from it - therefore I'm seeking help looking up the VIN history to see the real story of the registration.

    Does anyone here know of any German VIN checking sites, or registration checking sites?

    I actually want to check both VINs, because once he told me my black SL55 was stolen, and later he changed it to the silver SL55. There are a lot more details and complexity not worth posting - I'm simply looking for a mechanism to look into this and would greatly appreciate any help!
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  2. Tom(Atl)

    Tom(Atl) Formula Junior

    Oct 29, 2006
    507
    USA
    Full Name:
    Tom
    So my questions are:

    I am going to Germany in two weeks, and want to follow up on this either here (US) or there when I go soon.

    So does anyone have any recommendations into the following:

    1) How I can report a German national for defrauding me (who lives in Germany)? Should I report him in US? In Germany? And how? In US, I see that my city has a 'Major Fraud Unit' I could report to.

    2) Can anyone look up the VIN in Germany for me and see where it is registered?

    3) Would the statute of limitations be based upon the date I bought the car? Or sent it to him? Or a year later when it was clear he was giving me the run around? Or another year later when he basically made up a story saying the car was stolen (when it wasn't - he just did insurance fraud in Germany, collected the $ and kept it for himself)
     
  3. chrismic

    chrismic Formula Junior

    Jan 7, 2012
    272
    You won't be able to look up vins. I suspect the only way forward is to report the matter to German police and ask for the prosecutor to start an investigation (so-called Strafanzeige). since you seem to have your friend's name etc, that should be straigt forward
     
  4. NoSpeedLimit

    NoSpeedLimit Karting

    Sep 6, 2013
    185
    I think, I would be better to go to an English speaking attorney in Germany first. The people at the German police speak at least some English, but I doubt that they will understand your case. A German speaking person familiar with the German law would make things easier.

    PS
    Bring everything that will prove that the cars are yours with you.
     
  5. Tom(Atl)

    Tom(Atl) Formula Junior

    Oct 29, 2006
    507
    USA
    Full Name:
    Tom
    Thank you for the responses, good advice!
     
  6. MARMIST

    MARMIST Formula 3

    Jul 1, 2014
    1,338
    You are still lucky. Germany's justice doesnt work really bad. If ur friend had been italian.....oh man... u could really wave goodbye to both cars.
     
  7. PatrikD

    PatrikD Rookie

    May 12, 2012
    48
    Sweden, Dalarna
    Full Name:
    Patrik D
    What does Carfax says about the vinnumber?
    i dont know how carfax works, but if i search carfax in Sweden i have 4 hits for that vinnumber.
     
  8. BJJ

    BJJ Formula 3
    BANNED

    Feb 25, 2014
    1,301
    This sounds a little bit strange to me. Any competent attorney will take this job. He or she will presumably ask for a deposit. Since there is no real chance to effectively charge money from a person residing in the US (we lost tens of thousands of Dollars to US law firms and work with deposits only since then).

    If you refuse a deposit, then you might be right in your finding ...
     

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