Fake Ksh25 Million Range Rover Handed To Govt For Destruction

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) on Thursday, June 29 intercepted and rejected an imported 2021 Range Rover HSE suspected to have been cloned to hide its authentic year of release.

The regulator stated that it handed over the sleek Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to the government for destruction or shipping back to the country of origin.

KEBS noted that the vehicle was intercepted during a routine inspection in Mombasa while raising alarm regarding the increased cases of vehicles being smuggled into the country.

A Range Rover was intercepted in Mombasa by the Kenya Bureau of Standards and handed over to the government on Thursday, June 29, 2023. /KEBS

"KEBS recently intercepted and rejected an imported high-end motor vehicle suspected of being cloned. The Range Rover HSE 4x4 model 2021. Chassis Number SALGA2AEXLA400687 was apprehended during a routine inspection at the Regional Logistics Centre, Mombasa

"Today, KEBS Acting Managing Director (MD) Esther Ngari Esther Ngari handed over the suspected cloned vehicle to the Kenya Revenue Authority for destruction or return to the country of origin, as per requirements of the Standard Operating Procedures," stated KEBS.

Some of the used versions of the intercepted Range Rover cost between Ksh7 million and Ksh15 million while a newer version of the vehicle can cost up to Ksh25 million.

"This is an expensive vehicle which has been fraudulently brought into the country. Our inspection agencies collaborated with various stakeholders to intercept it.

"There are processes that we have put in place to make sure that fraudulent activities do not happen," Ngari explained.

Another KEBS official lamented that many Kenyans were losing money by importing counterfeit cars, adding that the suspects attended auctions in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) to get more information on the vehicles.

The official thus cautioned Kenyans against purchasing vehicles from unregistered dealers and urged them to follow stipulated inspection procedures so that they do not fall for cloned vehicles which are against Kenyan standards.

A former governor on April 13, 2023, paid Ksh9.9 million (US$71,600) for a sleek Range Rover Vogue that was to be delivered to Kenya but was nabbed at the port of Mombasa before it could even get to him.

A report by Citizen TV on Sunday, June 11 revealed that the luxury SUV had left the UK for Dubai while the governor already made payments for the car on that date. The Range Rover arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 15, 2023, and was issued a certificate for shipping by a motor dealer to the port of Mombasa, Kenya.

The former county boss, whose identity was not revealed in the report, made the payments to the dealer in Dubai and was issued an ocean transport card by emporium cars in UAE after paying transit costs.

However, the car was seized at the port of Mombasa after it emerged that it was stolen in London.

According to a report by the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service in the UK, while responding to inspection inquiries made by QISJ -the firm subcontracted by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) noted that the chassis number for the Range Rover did not match its actual number as per records.

“The chassis number displayed on this car is for a 2020 car, the car you have is actually a 2019 model and not 2020. The identity labels are fake but the engine number is genuine. the car was reported stolen in the UK on 21/09/2022," stated the report.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards officials led by Acting Managing Director, Esther Ngari, who intercepted a Range Rover and handed it over to the government on Thursday, June 29, 2023. /KEBS