Black Country storage boss jailed over £300k stolen car shipment scam

Kennedy Ruto, aged 48, who runs Fast Safe Storage in Smethwick, was jailed for four years for his part in the scam which saw 17 cars, including a £72,000 Range Rover, seized.

Ruto, who originates from Africa but lives in Birmingham, first came to the police's attention in February 2010 when he was arrested for handling stolen cars at his Smethwick base after stolen vehicles arrived in west Africa and were traced back to him.

Ruto denied any wrong doing, saying he wasn't present when the vehicles were loaded and that he had merely acted on his customers' instructions, and was eventually released as West Midlands Police could not produce enough evidence to charge him.

But in July 2012, some two years later, a ports officer in Southampton inspected a shipment to Africa and discovered a Nissan Murano which had been reported stolen from Leicester in September 2011 and a BMW X5 stolen from London in June 2012 which both had false registration plates fitted.

The shipment was traced back to Ruto and it transpired they had been loaded at his storage company in Smethwick.

Over the course of the next few months port authorities continued to inspect shipments and a steady flow of stolen cars appeared amongst legal cargoes.

The cars ranged in value from a £3,000 Ford Focus to a £72,000 Range Rover.

Ruto was charged with the acquisition, retention and use of stolen property in April 2014 and stood trial earlier this month at Wolverhampton Crown Court where he was found guilty. He was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Tuesday.

Investigating officer DC Darren Brown, from West Midlands Police's CID, said: "We recovered 17 cars up to 10 years old in all with a total value of over £300,000, many of them stolen in the Midlands.

"Ruto was arrested again in September 2013 and his phones and computers were seized.

"Checks on shipping documents proved to be false, including fictional addresses, false vehicles and bogus names. We also found photographic evidence of several of the cars at Fast Safe Storage in Cornwall Road."

He added: ""Ruto was involved in a very lucrative business as British cars can fetch up to four times their worth in Africa.

"Fortunately he will not be able to enjoy the fruits of his labour for the foreseeable future."