WOMAN AT HEART OF CAR SCAM
Two vehicles on finance sold over internet
A Paisley woman scammed dealership bosses out of £9,000 by selling her BMW 1 Series motor online while still having finance on it.
Daniella Nicolaci, 28, was rumbled after attempting to flog her second car, an Audi A3 for £7,000, over the internet to the same firm.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard Nicolaci bought two cars from Arnold Clark at Paisley’s Phoenix Retail Park.
She had signed finance agreements totalling almost £29,000 on both vehicles.
Despite this, she first flogged her BMW over the internet to Best Buy Car, a dealership in Hull, East Yorkshire, even though she owed outstanding finance on it.
The court heard Nicolaci was snared for the fraud when she tried to sell the Audi, using the same method as before, even though she owed money on that car too. Procurator Fiscal Depute Callum
Forsyth told the court Nicolaci bought the BMW from Arnold Clark in Paisley in July, 2017, after signing a £ 16,000 finance deal.
In May the following year, she then bought the Audi A3 from the same dealership with another loan for £12,900.
Mr Forsyth said: “On October 20, 2018, the accused visited an online car buyer and offered the motor vehicle for sale to them.
“She put information into the website and was offered £9,100 for the BMW. This was revised to £9,000,
“The sale did not proceed as there was outstanding finance on the vehicle.
“The accused then sent the company a screen shot of a letter purporting to show the finance agreement had been completed.
“She pocketed £9,000, but when she attempted to sell the Audi, alarm bells rang at Best Car Buyer, the online dealer, based down south.
He added: “On May 12, 2019, she attempted to sell the Audi A3 via the website.
“She produced a letter purporting to show she had discharged the original finance agreement.
“The company attempted to gain more information from the accused when they realised they had been defrauded in respect of the BMW.”
The fraud was reported to Paisley Police, who carried out an inquiry resulting in Nicolaci being arrested at her home on July 29 last year.
Yesterday Nicolaci, from Ferguslie Walk, appeared in the dock and pleaded guilty to a charge of obtaining £9,000 by fraud.
She did this by pretending there was no outstanding finance on the car and selling it to another dealer.
She also admitted attempting to obtain £7,000 by fraud by offering another car for sale, claiming it too had no outstanding finance on it.
Defence agent Amy Spencer said: “Given the gravity of the offence, I would imagine your Lordship will call for Criminal Justice Social Work reports.
“She is in employment and will be in a position to repay the finances.”
Sheriff Tom McCartney said: “Clearly, these are serious matters and all sentencing options will be considered.”
Nicolaci will discover her fate when she reappears for sentencing on November 11.