Many vehicle thieves in Hanoi steal expensive motorbikes by exchanging fraudulently aging vehicles that have fake registered license plates from other vehicles at public parking lots.
Aging vehicles pile up in the capital city
The situation has driven up the number of aging vehicles in the city, as those who have lost expensive vehicles do not want old and less expensive vehicles.
Guards at Bach Mai Hospital said that, among hundreds of aging vehicles at the hospital’s open-air parking lot many were left in the 1990s, when motorbikes were not as popular as today.
These vehicles were left by thieves who stole expensive ones in their stead.
According to confessions by some alleged thieves, they carefully chase parking lot guards' routines.
The thieves keep track of those who have expensive motorbikes parked at the hospital and make false license plates that look like those on more expensive ones. They then park the old vehicles with the false plates at the lot and take out the expensive motorbikes, leaving the old and cheaper ones at the parking lot.
By these means, many guards have been deceived and a great deal of motorbikes have been stolen each year. At present, many older vehicles are piling up within the precinct of the hospital.
These aging vehicles have no registration documents, and no one wants to claim them home. They also cannot be sold due to prolonged and complicated procedures. Many who have lost vehicles failed to find them for several years after making reports to local police. Some were informed that their vehicles were found, but it took years for them to complete the required procedures to verify ownership. Several do not even report the thefts to local police because they lack confidence in the police's ability to recover them.
Currently, hundreds of vehicles are parked along by the roadside on Phu Doan Street, many becoming clutter after such a long time sitting idle.
Several people in the surrounding areas said that these vehicles were temporarily seized by traffic police, but owners refuse to claim them.
