Dutch Fraudsters Register 1,737 Cars Under One Man's Name
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday fined The Netherlands for allowing unknown identity thieves to register 1,737 cars in a single man's name, setting him up for a slew of legal woes.
Anytime one of the cars was involved in an accident or traffic violation, the victim, Steven Benito Romet, faced fines and summonses, eventually landing in debtors' prison for lack of funds.
Authorities also cut off his family benefits, presuming him to be too wealthy to need them given the number of cars registered in his name.
Romet reported the theft of his driving license in November 1995, but it was not invalidated until March 1997, giving the thieves plenty of time to register the vehicles fraudulently.
The ECHR argued that the Dutch government had "interfered in (Romet's) private life" by failing to invalidate his driver's licence immediately after he reported the theft.
It ordered the Dutch government to pay Romet 9,000 euros ($11,850) in damages.
Romet approached a range of authorities in 1996 in vain attempts to rectify the situation.
By 2004, the authorities said too much time had passed for them to conduct a useful investigation.
Source: Agence France Presse
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