THE ringleader of a "complex and highly-organised" car theft is to have his own set of wheels sold off by Notts Police.
Ayaz Aziz, of Aspley, was convicted in March of his role in a plot to steal a Volkswagen Scirocco and hide its identity by "cloning" it.
Investigators later discovered he owned an expensive Aston Martin DB9 sports car – but could not explain where he got the money to buy it.
A court has now ruled it can be sold off at auction under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The car, which has a top speed of 190mph and goes from zero to 62mph in 4.6 seconds, was paraded by Notts Police at Riverside Police Station yesterday.
Notts Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul Broadbent said: "We seize cars and even houses, so an Aston Martin is a reasonable seizure.
"Aziz was a criminal making money and then he drew attention to himself by buying a white soft-top sports car.
"Surely the penny should have dropped that we or someone else would look into how he had such new-found wealth."
Police began investigating Aziz after burglars repeatedly tried to break into a house in West Bridgford where a white Scirocco was parked on the drive. They succeeded in September 2010 and made off in the car. Three men – Jamie Elliott, 26, and Samuel Donohoe, 22, both of no fixed address, and Shehzad Ladha, 21, of Berridge Road, Forest Fields – were arrested soon after and convicted of the break-ins.
As they tried to trace the car, police discovered the burglars had been exchanging phone calls with Aziz, who had bought an identical but damaged Scirocco from a car auction for around £9,000 five months before the break-in.
Jobless Aziz took the number plates and the chassis number of the damaged car and had them fixed to the stolen Scirocco to hide its identity.
Aziz then put it on sale for £16,000 last February.
Two months later, the car was confirmed as the one stolen in West Bridgford and Aziz was arrested by officers from Operation Cordoba, set up to investigate organised car key burglaries.
In March, Aziz, 26, of Aspley Park Drive, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court and admitted conspiracy to steal. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
But Notts Police's Financial Investigation Unit continued to investigate him under the of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which allows the seizure of assets from criminals.
It was established Aziz had made £171,000 from crime, £55,000 of which was the Aston Martin, £16,000 from the Scirocco and the rest from cash transactions he could not explain.
Last month, a judge ordered the car be sold to pay some of the money back.
Detective Constable Paul Cash said: "The offence was initially treated as a car key burglary and theft but it was actually part of a complex and highly-organised plot to clone the car and sell it."
Half the money from selling the Aston Martin will go to the Government and the rest will go back to criminal justice organisations, including Notts Police. The car will be kept in storage until it is sold.
