December's Auto-Theft.info Heroes Of The Month Award, Sponsored By Winner International, Goes To The NYPD Auto Crimes Division in South Ozone Park, Queens.

NYPD Auto theft team in Queens is awarded the Auto-Theft.info and Winner International Hero Of The Month Award for December 2002. Team completed a successful undercover operation to take down a million dollar fraud operation.

Decembers "Auto-Theft Hero Of The Month Award" sponsored by Winner International and Auto-Theft.info goes to a group of detectives from the South Ozone Park section of Queens in New York City. The team operated an undercover sting for 16 months aimed at curbing insurance fraud and reducing auto theft. In late November they charged 71 people with taking part in a $1 million auto theft and insurance fraud operation.

As part of their sting they arrested 28 car owners who falsely claimed their vehicles had been stolen and 43 others which included middlemen who unwittingly sold the cars to undercover agents posing as cars dismantlers. Owners of 10 auto body shops were also arrested for various crimes, which included receiving stolen property, and insurance fraud.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the sting began in July 2001, when undercover detectives of this award winning auto crime division set up a towing business in the Howard Beach neighborhood in Queens, and put out the word they would pay cash for cars, "no questions asked."

During the 16-month operation, detectives purchased cars from middlemen who were disposing of vehicles unwanted by their owners, authorities said. The owners falsely reported to police that their cars had been stolen when, in fact, the cars were in the custody of the undercover police officers.

The operation, the latest in a series of undercover stings that began in Queens in 1991, resulted in the recovery of 44 vehicles with an estimated market value of $1 million.

"This crime ring made hundreds of thousands of dollars by filing false claims with insurance companies and selling off cars for parts," Commissioner Kelly said.

For their vigilance and bravery Auto-Theft.info and Winner International salute the NYPD Auto Crimes Division in South Ozone Park, Queens as this month's "Auto-Theft Heroes of the Month." As the official sponsor of this award, Winner International will send this team of auto theft pros a set of complimentary Club anti-theft devices.

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About Winner International

Winner International was formed and incorporated in 1986 and is a privately held security and safety products company. Headquartered in Sharon, PA, Winner International is the manufacturer and marketer of The Club®, the No. 1 selling vehicle anti-theft device, and other security and safety products worldwide.
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