NY judge to decide who owns rare $1.95m Ferrari: Italian man who it
was stolen from in 2003 or US collector after the car - 1 of only 349
made - was seized at the Canadian border for 'highly suspect' tar on the
ID number
By Matthew Wright
Daily Mail
March 20, 2021
A federal court will determine whether an
almost $2million Ferrari belongs to an Italian man or to a man living in
Miami after both filed claims that the car belonged to them upon
learning the vehicle was seized by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
On Wednesday, the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York announced that it was launching a civil action to determine ownership of the luxury Italian car.
The
1996 Ferrari F50 was created to celebrate the brand's 50th anniversary
and is the 'closest thing to a road-going Formula 1 car,' according to
Ferrari's website. Only 349 of the cars were made, making it ultra rare. The car was appraised at $1,949,669 and only had 10,000 miles.
The sports car was being transported across the Peace Bridge Port of
Entry, Buffalo, New York, on Dec. 14, 2019, when CBP first noted
something was off about the vehicle. It was detained by CBP after an
investigation and has been in their possession ever since, with
authorities soon able to learn that the car had been stolen in 2003.
'After investigation, my Office determined
that it would not be appropriate for us to exercise our authority and
forfeit this extremely valuable and previously stolen luxury car,'
stated U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy.
'Instead,
after an 18-year odyssey, which we know took it across continents and
countries, we have decided that the time has come for a court of law to
determine the rightful owner of the vehicle.'
Court
documents for the civil action state that when CBP officers first
encountered the vehicle, it was being transported on a commercial
carrier - Blue Line Trucking - to Mohammed Alsalouussi in Miami,
Florida, as an 'unaccompanied personal good.'
The shipper was identified as Ferrari of Quebec in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, documents read. The Ferrari had a Canada license plate
registered to Ikonick Collection Ltd, a luxury car collection based in
Miami that Alsaloussi owns.
CBP officers found rivets on the vehicle
identification number (VIN) plate located on the Ferrari's dashboard
were covered in a 'black tar type substance,' with them later
determining was inconsistent with other similar vehicles.
The CBP then tapped the National Insurance
Crime Bureau (NICB) to conduct an additional investigation into the
vehicle. NICB conducted an inspection of the vehicle and determined that
the VIN plate was 'highly suspect and did not appear to be affixed to
the factory standard,' according to the court documents.
CBP
would confiscate the vehicle and almost a month later on Jan. 13, 2020,
NICB received information from Ferrari in Italy that showed that the
'vehicle had been stolen from the country in 2003 and not recovered,'
the documents read.
And around March
25, 2020, CBP notified concerned parties of the 'Notice of Seizure' they
had done on the Ferrari, sending the notices via mail.
Less
than two months later on May 8, CBP received documentation from lawyers
representing Italian resident Paolo Provenzi to prove that the car
belonged to him.
The court document
state that Provenzi showed that he and his father and brother purchased
the Ferrari on Feb. 13, 2003, for 260,000 Euros (roughly $310,660).
Provenzi was the owner of the Ferrari when it was stolen on March 30,
2003, in Imola, Italy, from a parking garage at the Hotel Donatello.
He also provided documents from his insurance company that showed his loss wasn't covered, according to the court documents.
It is unknown how the car made it from Italy to Canada.
Lawyers representing Mohammed Alsaloussi
and Ikonick Collections submitted their petition on May 11, according to
court documents. Alsaloussi claimed that he did not know that the
vehicle had been stolen, the filing reads.
With
both Provenzi and Alsaloussi claiming ownership of the vehicle, the car
will remain in limbo in Buffalo, New York, until a court decides what
best action to take.
The
U.S. government is also seeking the following: to give notice to all
parties thought to have interest in the vehicle; to prevent Provenzi and
Alsaloussi from taking against the government in attempts to recover
the Ferrari; discharge the government from all liability, except
maintaining the vehicle during court proceedings; dismiss the government
from the proceedings; and to award the government its cost as the court
seems proper and just.
2 comments:
They can split the difference and give it to me.
After 5 years stolen vehicles are automatically purged from NCIC. Suspicious vehicles are then forwarded to NICB for a hand search. I recovered a Stolen Harley Davidson on a tip that it was in a storage unit. It was a custom limited edition model made by AMF Bowling Company when they bought Harley Davidson out in 1969 before bankruptcy many years ago. Chicago PD still had the stolen report on file but didn't want to mess with it. I seized it under a stolen property recovery statute for Galveston County. The insurance company had paid the claim but did not file a claim for surrender. The owner of the storage unit sued and showed up in court with 25 year old a hand written bill of sale from Illinois. He won the suit and there is now a very valuable known stolen Harley Davidson registered in the State of Texas. I have a feeling the real owner sold the Harley and then reported it stolen. The statue of limitations for the offense had expired. The stolen limited edition AMF Harley Davidson was worth nearly $100,000.00 By the way Harley Davidson bought it's company back in 1981.
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