Car dealer arrested for alleged fraud

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Trou-aux-Biches arrested Azim Mahaboo, 32, a resident of Triolet. He had been wanted for months after two men accused him of fraud. During his arrest on Wednesday, the suspect found himself surrounded by the CID’s bloodhounds and tried to flee, but they eventually caught up with him. He denied the charges against him during his arrest. He appeared in court that day, but the police refused to release him and he was sent back to his cell.

The first case was reported in January 2023. The victim, a 43-year-old taxi driver, explained that he had paid the suspect Rs 7.1 lakh for the purchase of the car. But the dealer allegedly told him stories to fool him for months until he decided to file a complaint with the Granbay police station. The 40-year-old man explained that he met Azim Mahaboo through a friend in 2022. The latter told him that Azim was a dealer of imported cars. During the meeting, the suspect demanded Rs 30,000 from him to start the formalities. He later allegedly sent her several model photos on WhatsApp and when they agreed, the dealer told him that the car cost Rs 7.3 lakh but he had to pay Rs 4.5 lakh for the first time. The first transfer of Rs 450,000 was made in March 2022.

A few months passed and in June 2023, Azim Mahaboo contacted the taxi driver and explained to him that the freight charges had increased and that he needed to pay the remaining Rs 230,000 and told him that he would receive the car in a short period of three months. On June 17, he even gave the taxi driver a contract. Three months passed and the next three months also passed. The taxi driver realized that he had been cheated and decided to tell the dealer that he intended to break the contract. The latter agreed to reimburse him. However, no funds were credited to the taxi driver’s account. The same was true for the school bus driver, who Azim Mahaboo had filed a complaint in June for being defrauded of Rs 1,480,000. He also met the dealer through a friend in July 2023. He showed him a van worth Rs 1,220,000 and they came to an agreement. He made multiple payments from July to the end of 2023. The dealer gave him receipts for different chassis numbers.