Their empire came crashing down after someone realised the car they had bought a dealership had actually been stolen
A London gang who specialised in selling on stolen cars has been dismantled and members locked up after they flogged motors worth more than £1 million. Surrey Police were tipped off after a woman reported she had bought what turned out to be a stolen vehicle from a dealership in November 2023.
Bank records showed Abdirahman Ismail, 34, and Ali Abbas, 31, had been wired cash in return for the stolen car. It then emerged this was just one of a string of thefts across London and Surrey. The gang had handled and cloned more than 50 stolen cars between February 2022 and April 2024.
They were mainly Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai, and Kias, worth over a million quid. Once the group had received a stolen a car, they changed the index plates and doctored the Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN).
They then flogged the motors, deceiving dealerships into buying the cars by using fake driving licences and other dodgy documents to finalise the sale. Ismail and Abbas were nabbed in May 2024 and phones, laptops, bank cards and documents were seized.
Phone data also showed they were selling cannabis. Hussain Kapadia, 34, and Rizwan Javid, 41, were arrested in September 2024 after it emerged they were linked to the group. When Kapadia was arrested at his home address in Ilford, police seized a stolen BMW parked on his driveway.
The sentences
Ali Abbas, 31, of Rose Avenue, Mitcham pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen goods, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to transfer criminal property, concerned in the supply of class B and C drugs and possession or control of identity documents with intent. He appeared at Chichester Crown court on January 27 2025 and was sentenced to six years.
Abdirahman Ismail, 34, of Lancastrian Road, Wallington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen goods, conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to transfer criminal property, concerned in the supply of class B drugs and possession or control of identity documents with intent. He appeared at Chichester Crown court on January 27 and was sentenced to 16 months inside, suspended for two years.
Rizwan Javid, 41 of Salcombe Drive, Chadwell Heath, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen goods, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He appeared at Guildford Crown court on September 19 2025 and was sentenced to two years and eight months’ imprisonment.
Hussain Kapadia, 34, of Auckland Road, Ilford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handling stolen goods, conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He appeared at Guildford Crown court on September 19 2025 and was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment.
A fifth defendant appeared at Guildford Crown court last week for a jury trial. On Friday, November 21, he was found not guilty of all offences.
Detective Constable Alex Boxall, of the Surrey Police Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “These four men orchestrated a highly organised scheme to clone stolen vehicles, disguising their crimes through the use of fraudulent documentation and selling the cars on to the motor trade.
“50 vehicle owners were directly affected and this criminal activity also had a significant impact on insurance companies and car dealerships, who suffered losses as a result of the group’s actions.”
Got a story? Please get in touch at [email protected]
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
