France’s ghost car scandal that allowed one million illegal vehicles onto the roads
France’s Ghost Car Scandal: One Million Illegal Vehicles on the Road
In France, over a million vehicles without valid registrations are currently on the roads, according to a state auditor’s report. The scandal, which has siphoned hundreds of millions of euros in lost taxes and fines, involves fraudulent dealerships manipulating records of the state vehicle licensing agency (SIV). This scheme has also put lives at risk by enabling unsafe cars and lorries to enter the system.
A Report on the Fraud’s Impact
The Cour des Comptes highlighted that vulnerabilities in the system have allowed a wide range of criminal activities, from minor offenses to organized crime, to exploit the registration process. The report, released on Thursday, noted that the financial damage from 2022 to 2024 totaled €550 million (£475 million), primarily due to unpaid registration fees and missed fines for speeding and parking violations.
“Vulnerabilities have allowed the whole gamut of criminality – from petty delinquency to organised crime – to penetrate the registration system in order to pursue their fraudulent ends,” said the Cour des Comptes.
The System’s Origins
The scandal traces back to 2017 when the French government partially privatized the SIV system to streamline the registration paper issuance process, which was previously known for its delays. Instead of relying on 2,000 civil servants, the government empowered car dealerships to directly access the register, issuing documents for their customers.
How the Fraud Operates
However, the Cour des Comptes noted that the new system overly depended on the honesty of dealers, leading to widespread abuse by operators who created fake dealerships to manipulate the registry for profit. The report indicated that nearly 300 shell companies, operating without state oversight, were responsible for registering approximately one million vehicles on the road.
Documents presented by drivers of these vehicles look legitimate to officers, but the vehicles and their owners become untraceable afterward. The state’s failure to verify the credentials of the 30,000 dealers granted access to the SIV has made it easy for anyone to establish a shell company and gain registry access without scrutiny.
Examples of Fraud
Le Monde highlighted a case where a SIV-eur (fraudsters known to police) assisted a luxury car importer in dodging substantial import and environmental taxes by registering Rolls-Royces and Mercedes as disabled-access vehicles, which qualify for tax exemptions. Stolen vehicles can be re-registered by SIV-eurs to avoid detection, and drug gangs use these cars for high-speed deliveries on motorways.
Le Figaro noted that police noticed a 160% surge in ‘very fast’ speeding violations between 2016 and 2022, prompting investigations that revealed numerous fake registrations. The auditor identified 30 distinct fraud schemes, including tax evasion on polluting vehicles, tampering with roadworthiness test results, and erasing the identities of prior owners.
Government Response
France’s interior ministry confirmed awareness of the issue and is implementing solutions. Last year’s action plan increased fraud detection rates, with SIV access authorizations significantly cut. An insider from Le Monde remarked that reducing the state’s role led to a system where people could bypass checks, a situation that once required two-hour queues for registration papers.
