Owner of ‘safe storage for cars’ stole £50,000 Porsche while owner was abroad

Admitted theft: Umair Bhatti outside court
Central News/Gustavo Valiente
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The boss of a vehicle storage firm that offers “a safe haven for cars” stole a £50,000 Porsche while its owner was abroad, a court heard.

Umair Bhatti, 30, took the black Porsche SPO Sports Model 912 from an underground car park near the London Eye and sold it to pay off his debts.

The classic model had been left by its owner, businessman Arslan Khan, at Bhatti’s airport meet-and-greet firm Garaged.com.

At Camberwell Green magistrates’ court, Bhatti pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle.

Magistrates heard Mr Bhatti, a self-confessed “petrolhead”, rented out parking spaces in the car park and was employed by Mr Khan while the businessman was out of the country.

Prosecutor Robert Chambers said Bhatti applied to the DVLA to register a change of ownership — and Mr Khan received a letter informing him of the changes. “The owner of the car received a letter on February 17 notifying him and giving him 14 days to respond”, said Mr Chambers.

Mr Khan returned to the UK briefly to move the car to another part of the car park, under County Hall, and alert the authorities — but Bhatti simply took off his handwritten note and had the car towed away.

Mr Chambers added: “It appears the vehicle has been sold on by the defendant.”

After his arrest, Bhatti, of Worthing, West Sussex, initially claimed he had bought the car from Mr Khan for £20,000, then admitted he had been under pressure to pay off debts for building work.

A charge of fraud by false representation was dropped and Bhatti is due to be sentenced at Inner London crown court at a later date. He was freed on bail until the hearing.

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