Classic car dealer convicted: fraud with expensive Mercedes E 500!

Classic car dealer convicted: fraud with expensive Mercedes E 500!

A classic car dealer from the Landsberg district was convicted of embezzlement before the Landsberg district court. The 60-year-old defendant, who works as an authorized representative in a classic car dealer, purchased a Mercedes Benz 500 E on behalf of a customer in 2022. According to the agreement, the dealer was supposed to act as the owner until the vehicle reached the age of 30 and received a commission of 3,500 euros for this.

However, he was accused of charging the customer a full annual car insurance premium when in fact only a partial amount was due. In November 2022, the vehicle suffered fire damage. How Mercury reported, the owner's comprehensive insurance transferred the repair costs to the dealer in January 2023. However, he kept the money partly in his company account and partly in his private account instead of giving it back to the customer.

Accusations and defense

The customer asked questions about the whereabouts of the money, to which the dealer responded with excuses and falsely claimed that the damage was not covered. It was only after the customer found out that the insurance had already paid that the dealer apologized before the court hearing in Dublin. He ultimately reimbursed the embezzled money and the customer's legal fees. The dealer's defense was that the economic situation in the classic car market was poor and he had to work hard to keep the company running.

The defendant had eight previous convictions, many of them for property crimes, with the last conviction being 19 years ago. Judge Alexander Kessler imposed a suspended sentence of ten months. The prosecution had originally requested a year and three months, while the defense sought a maximum of ten months. In addition, the dealer is obliged to pay a deposit of 2,000 euros to a children's home.

Classic car Mercedes Benz 500 E in focus

The Mercedes Benz 500 E, which was the subject of the dispute, is a sought-after classic car. Loud Autoscout24 There are various models of this type on the market that are characterized by excellent reviews and a variety of specifications. An example is a 1994 vehicle with 136,000 km on the clock and a 320 horsepower gasoline engine that received a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

There are numerous offers aimed at classic car lovers: from the Mercedes-Benz 500 E with different performance and mileage to other models that differ in price and features. These vehicles are particularly in demand not only because of their rarity, but also because of their impressive technical features and the associated fascination with automotive history.