Question Re. VIN Plate Under Hood. Please Help!!!

My brother is considering purchasing a 2002 Spyder.
I have a quick question about something that concerns him. While looking at one of the online video ads, the person pointed to the VIN plate under the hood and said that it meant that it was never in an accident in that area of the car. He further stated that if it was in an accident, it would be missing that plate because it cannot be replaced.
My concern is that the 2002 that he is considering is missing the VIN plate. Before he knew about that VIN plate, he asked if it has ever been in an accident and the guy told him it wasn't. He hasn't done a CarFax or a PPI yet, but he doesn't want to waste money on a CarFax & PPI if it's that easy to determine if it's been in an accident. He has seen many cars online which are also missing that tag. Attached is a photo where you can clearly see the two holes where the plate is affixed on some cars. The holes are on the radiator support on the drivers side (LHD). He is looking to possibly make an offer soon. I would appreciate if you guys/gals can either take a look at your cars to see if there is a tag there, or if it's not an accident situation, if you can explain why some cars have it and some cars don't.
Thanks for any help you can give us. I would also appreciate any additional buying advice that you can give. He's trying to do as much research as he can before diving in.
Thank you.
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My brother got a reply from another Maserati forum with some additional info; here it is:

I just looked at mine and it has an assembly number tag there. The VIN (the last 5 digits) are stamped in just below the data tag. I have no idea about replacing the tag. It's just an aluminum plate held on with screen door rivets.


Here is my brother's response back to him:

Dave, Thank you for your quick response! I didn't realize it was an assembly number tag. I zoomed in on my photo of that area just below the tag, and it has "0511 USA" stamped in the steel. The VIN of the car I'm looking at is ZAMBB18A420007781. In this case, the stamped number doesn't have 5 digits nor does it match the VIN. In your opinion and experience, do you think it's a red flag for that car? I just found a CarFax that was run from the selling dealer. It shows no accident damage reported, but I've heard that they are not always totally accurate. Here is a link:
CARFAX Vehicle History Report for this 2002 MASERATI M138 SPYDER



Any thoughts? This is all very confusing and seems suspicious to us.
Thanks again!