A Fife man who operated a fake MOT scam that left customers driving illegal and potentially dangerous cars, has avoided a prison sentence.
With his business struggling, Christopher Park started taking money from customers to get their vehicles through their tests, but they were handed forged certificates.
He appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court for sentencing in connection with fake documents being produced for three vehicles.
Park, 41, of Rae Street, Cowdenbeath, had admitted that between March 18 and May 27 last year at Rosebank, Cowdenbeath, he formed a fraudulent scheme to obtain money and pretended to Jacqueline Thomson and Andrew Duncan he would submit their vehicles for MOT, carry out any necessary repairs and present them with a MOT certificate, the truth being that he knew he did not obtain valid MOT certificates, he presented them with forged certificates and obtained £350 by fraud.
The court had heard last month Park had his own car care business and the complainers were expecting him to carry out any work required following the MOT test and then resubmit the vehicles to obtain the certificate.
The fraud came to light when one of the customers noticed that a supposedly new certificate had the same test number as an earlier one and inquiries were then made with the MOT centre where the repair work was supposed to have been carried out.
Park told police he had scanned an old certificate, altered it on a computer then printed it off.
Defence solicitor Stephen Morrison said: “The background is against a situation where his own business was in significant financial difficulty.
“He was feeling stressed, there was significant drinking and his business has since folded. He is aware this is a serious matter and is also aware of possible consequences which could have flowed from this behaviour.”
After reading reports, Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “This was a bad fraud in that not only did the complainers lose financially but there was the possibility that they could have been driving dangerous vehicles.
“While I see that you didn’t think that the cars were unsafe or unroadworthy, the fact they needed welding work done I find hard to reconcile with them being roadworthy.”
Sheriff Macnair imposed a community payback order with six months supervision, 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to pay a total of £350 to his victims.