Gardaí in Dublin have arrested a man and seized 18 cars as part of an investigation into a tax scam.
It involves the under declaring of the cubic capacity of car engines, in order to pay a lower motor tax rate.
The man arrested was charged with fraud and theft offences and appeared in court yesterday.
He has been remanded on continuing bail to appear in court again on April 21st.
Some the cars seized as part of the investigation | Image: Garda press office
The traffic division of the gardaí have carried out the investigation for the last number of weeks.
They say while this initial stage involved 18 BMW cars, the scam includes luxury cars from a wide range of manufactures.
In each case, it is thought a false declaration was made to the relevant Motor Tax Office, understating the size of the car engine.
Each of the cars will now be examined by the Public Service Vehicle Inspector.
Gardaí says they will also be liaising with the insurance companies involved.
They add that this scam raises issues over the validity of insurance, the safety of the vehicle due to possible modifications of the engine and loss of revenue to the state in terms of road tax.
