European car-jackers hit with import duties on stolen exotics

12 years, 9 months ago - 20 June 2011
European car-jackers hit with import duties on stolen exotics
Tax evasion. It's how they got Al Capone, and it's how European authorities are pinning down a team of car-jackers who made off with a trio of top-end automobiles.

The thieves reportedly broke into a house in Switzerland and drove off in the proprietor's BMW 750Li, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and Bugatti Veyron. Not just any Veyron, either, but the ultra-rare Grand Sport Sang Bleu.

According to reports, they drove the cars through Germany on the way to Poland, and were easily spotted along the way. A million-dollar chromed supercar does not exactly blend into traffic, after all, the way a Volkswagen or Toyota Camry would. The drivers of the Bugatti and BMW were apprehended by German police, and the Veyron was unfortunately scraped up in the process. The driver of the Ferrari reportedly escaped, however, ditching the car at a railway station and disappearing into the crowd.

Now the two apprehended thieves are being hit with a half-million-dollar tax bill. That's right, they're being charged for importing the stolen cars into Germany from Switzerland, which is not part of the European Union. That, and probably a count or two of grand theft auto...