I was contacted and interviewed a few days ago by two detectives from Hamilton (Ohio) County Sheriff's Office. The ***les are being sold by a Mr. Loreman from Hamilton, Ohio. The ***les in question are the ones that were put in Charles Edward's name. Mr. Loreman buys the ***les out of state from junkyards and Mr. Edwards changes the ***les to Ohio ***les. I was told that "Mr. Edwards" works for BMV and that someone else verifies the VIN and mileage. About 400 ***les are in question. It also is alleged that you can contact these persons and custom order a ***le-year, VIN and make of car-ie. turn a Tempest into a GTO Judge or turn a '32 sedan ***le to a roadster ***le-whatever you need. This was told to me by the detectives. I purchased a ***le in the fall of 2004 for a '39 ford pickup that I pulled out of a Nebraska farm field. I was told when I bought the ***le the usual disclaimers-"for collecting or display purposes"-wink-wink. I have not placed the new VIN on my truck-I just used the ***le so I could get license plates for the vehicle. I know-also against the law! I could not find the original VIN, apparrently wore-rusted away over the years. I was told by the dectives the State of Ohio was not interested in the case or investigating those who bought the ***les, at least no at this time. They were only interested in the people converting the ***les. I currently have the truck blown apart for paint-don't know if I should finish it-or just shove it out back and cover it up for a year or so and wait o see where this all goes??? Oh yeah-the detectives also took picures of the truck and ***les while they were here. This info is being put out here--for those of you that may have some of these ***les in question.
They got my name from BMV-on the changed ***le. Along with all the other people who started out with a ***le from Mr. Edwards.
Why not just get an "***embled ***le"??? I did in for a fenderless, exposed headers '34 Ford pick-up awhile back (I'm also from OHIO). Just had to make sure you had all the working parts the state requires. Wipers, signals, brakelights, mirrors etc.... The truck was also chopped 6 inches. No h***le at all, just a trip to the Highway Patrol for the inspection.... Had to provide proof of purchase for the body, frame, engine and trans (all separate reciepts from different people.... Hand written, and as I recall, none were stamped by a notary). Once the highway patrol signed off, it was off to the BMV to pay taxes on the build total ($2800 as I recall). They printed an ***embled 1990-whatever ***le and I purchased tags.... Oh, the nice patrol man made me hand stamp the new VIN # in the door jamb while he watched.... Piece of cake... Those old ***les scare me.... good luck with the investigation...
So you bought your ***le from someone in Ohio to ***le an out of state truck in Ohio? Then you transfered that ***le into your name and ordered plates for that ***le? Now the state is looking at the guy you bought the ***le from? Am I understanding this right? I see 4 options. 1) buy a ***le from the state the truck came from, stamp the ***le # to the truck frame. Transfer that ***le into Ohio, and get plates for that truck. 2) finish the truck as it is and always be looking over your shoulder. 3) go to your DMV and see if they have a legal way to get your truck ***led and licennsed in your state. Might be easier then you think. 4) Send the truck far, far away. Get a new project. For me, option 2 would be the last resort. Gene
I will just have to work on an ***embled ***le-when I talked to the personnel in the ***le office, they just had the deer in the headlights look. I already have the paperwork for the body/frame setup. The rest is just a matter of jumping thru the hoops I guess. I was told the ***le deal was a way to go by other hobbyists-but I guess it does not pay to take the easy way!
if it is such a crime- why does HAMB allow these do***ents to be sold in it's "for sale" section?????
I think this is more of a 'heads up' post than a conviction post. He's just letting others know that this is being invetsigated properly. Back off and let the m***es be informed.
I'd say the investigation is centered around Mr. Edwards as being a conflict of interest with his state BMV job. Changing car models on a ***le would really be a no-no I'd think.
In answer to the question about the cl***ifieds my understanding has always been that those do***ents were sold for display purposes/ collectors only. Some of us collect old pieces of auto memorabilia. I for one have been collecting everybit of '54 stuff I can get my hands on for years, I hope to one day own a ***le/dealers invoice and an ad for every car manufactured in 1954. hell I'm a dreamer what else can I say. Anyway once you purchase a piece of paper the seller has no real control over what you do with it. Its like selling a weapon, if I go to a sporting goods store and buy a knife and then decide to rob a little old lady with it the store really has no responsability for my actions. Now for your question about the truck, I can't make any decisions for you, and I don't know where you stand on the ongoing investigation thing. But if it were my project and I wasn't warned not to get rid of it by some sort of state or federal official I might consider selling or tradeing it for a different project. Especially if I couldn't prove where every last nut or bolt came from and that non of it was suspect as to its origins. But that's just one man's opinion and he's probably a little paranoid. Ya know what they say just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get ya.
9 times out of 10 when I see an ***hole comment, it's from you. Those two "dropped" names are the two that others should be alerted to if they happened to purchase do***ents similarly.
As a fellow ohioan, I'm glad he 'dropped the name' of the person in question. Otherwise, I might waste money on their ***le and inadvertantly commit a crime. And that's part of what the HAMB's about - information is power...
wonder if he was in on the bust a couple months ago by the state......there was something on the news about a lady and a couple others doing some stuff like this and e check stuff.....pretty big deal ....or atleast they made it out to be......brandon ..... just across the river....
Back up there, Einsteen...anywhere in anything I wrote in response to this, do you see me condoning this? Nowhere. Get off your ***hole high horse and read before you bark. What I did, was acknowledge the fact that one person was making light of a situation that could, and probably does, affect others on this board. BTW, why don't you just change your screen name to "COP"?
Why don't you just blow it off or exchange adresses and meet up somewhere. My gawd if ***hole is thw worse thing anyone ever calls you you're doin' good.
It's not illegal to sell do***ents. It's not illegal to purchase do***ents. Purchasing a do***ent, then attaching it to another/different car is fraud. When caught, it don't do any good to blame the guy you bought the do***ent from. Can't blame the guy that sold the ***le, can blame the guy that trys to use it in an illegal manner. I am an ***hole, what else would you expect from me?
Sounds to me like they just wanna bust these guys ***es for screwing with ***les. If i were you and im not and im sure your worrying ..**** i wouldnt. Ill bet you never hear from the cops again but ill bet the other guys get jail time. If not they will be looking for jobs im sure. Ill bet they didnt give the cops the paperwork stating that they were selling the ***les for historic do***ents or whatever. If they did they didnt even have to change them or verify them. They want em for other things and ill bet it goes further . Mr edwards or whatever his name was musta pissed someone off and they ratted on him. Id keep the truck and if the numbers are gone the cops gotta prove its stolen and thats hard to do without any numbers... Chill out... As far as the search warrant deal id bet you did the right thing and wont even be h***eled. If you would told them to get one it coulda been worse. Dave
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