Stumbled upon a possibly stolen MV

[oseveno]

Hi everyone,

 I met a guy who told me that 40 years ago,  a sergeant found out that members of his platoon had checked out a vehicle in his name and took it home. After telling his superiors that he would get to the bottom of this,  he left to take back the vehicle. Once he recovered it, he decided to take it home instead.  There it sat in a field, under a cover hidden from the world until another man bought the land 20 years later.  Now that man is selling this little gem. Can I buy this legally? Is it possible to check a MV to see if is stolen? Does it matter after 40 years?

 

Thanks for your help! 

[LarryH57]

What kind of mv is it? A Centurion tank might be a problem to claim as your own!

[wally dugan]

 A military registration or chassis number would be a start then check disposal records then if the story is true then it still is stolen

Edited August 2, 2020 by wally dugan

[Rootes75]

Firstly I wonder if it was reported stolen? Secondly after 40 years of being unclaimed who would have the rights to ownership?

[LarryH57]

I think under the law of property there is no time limit so if your Van Gogh painting was stolen in 1960 and subsequently found in the year 2020, it is still yours. My suggestion is, assuming the vehicle is actually stolen is to make the MOD a reasonable offer to own it and recover it from its location, which I guess they would agree. It would possibly cost them more to do the recovery. In 2007 the MOD sold EE Canberra jets for c £1 as long as the owner paid for the removal.

[Rootes75]

That makes sense, the MOD won't want to waste their time and money dealing with something that has no use or relevance now.

Report it, make a sensible offer and see where that leads?

[REME 245]

If you have the details as Wally has suggested apply for the vehicles records as any MV owner would and see how they have described its disposal / struck off strength.   That way you won't unecessary be alerting the MOD that anything is wrong unless you have to.    They are just as likely to insist on putting it through their contracted disposal company if it is still their property.

[Nick Johns]

I have heard so many similar stories over the years, same as the infamous Jeeps still in crates...the  stories all turn out to be entirely ficticious

[robin craig]

There are many MVs that have been disposed of by MOD that have no such struck off status on records. I know that for a fact as I have come across a number out here which have disposal circumstances beyond the UK norm but are legit. Go to any overseas country and you will find MOD kit on plinths and in museums as a result of gifting.

[10FM68]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:48 AM, oseveno said:

Hi everyone,

 I met a guy who told me that 40 years ago,  a sergeant found out that members of his platoon had checked out a vehicle in his name and took it home. After telling his superiors that he would get to the bottom of this,  he left to take back the vehicle. Once he recovered it, he decided to take it home instead.  There it sat in a field, under a cover hidden from the world until another man bought the land 20 years later.  Now that man is selling this little gem. Can I buy this legally? Is it possible to check a MV to see if is stolen? Does it matter after 40 years?

 

Thanks for your help! 

This really does have to be utter tosh.  So the man who bought the land knew the history of the vehicle because the guy who sold him it admitted to him that he had stolen it?

More to the point, anyone with any knowledge of military accounting in the 1970s/80s could never give credence to such a story.  Some soldiers steal a vehicle... the unit then allows the platoon sergeant to "sort out the problem" but he fails.  So the regimental quartermaster does what?  The CO does what?  The soldiers who, presumably, have been returned to the unit do what?  They don't claim at their own court martial that the sergeant took the vehicle off them?  The sergeant does what? 

No, if a military vehicle were to go missing it would be both an RMP and a civil police matter - as would the absence of the soldiers (AWOL soldiers can be arrested by the civil police) and no commanding officer would have any interest in asking a sergeant to sort it out, particularly if the theft of a vehicle was concerned he'd get the RMP involved straight away - he couldn't afford not to, after all, he too is responsible to the chain of command.  Valuable items in the Army are accountable, they can't just be accepted as being lost and put down to misfortune.  If a prismatic compass or a G10 watch goes missing there is a board of enquiry, so a vehicle?  No, I'm with Nick Johns on this one... I expect the vehicle was used to move crates of hidden Nazi gold...

 

10 68

[teletech]

On 8/3/2020 at 5:44 AM, LarryH57 said:

I think under the law of property there is no time limit so if your Van Gogh painting was stolen in 1960 and subsequently found in the year 2020, it is still yours. My suggestion is, assuming the vehicle is actually stolen is to make the MOD a reasonable offer to own it and recover it from its location, which I guess they would agree. It would possibly cost them more to do the recovery. In 2007 the MOD sold EE Canberra jets for c £1 as long as the owner paid for the removal.

I must confess that as an American I'm a little in awe of the idea of a government agency that would do something because it was reasonable!  Here I think the government would want to reclaim such an item regardless of the cost or practicality because it's proper procedure even if it meant the eventual destruction of said item.

[Tony B]

Our MOD has been known to dispose of kit , then years later come and say 'Can I have it back?' Getting worried now! I have a pice of lend lease kit marked Property of the United States.

[cosrec]

to original poster my reply is going to upset someone or get me banned off  HMVF site. But here goes the whole back story is a complete fabrication  to pander to the naive longings of someone who wants to buy an overpriced item laid under a sheet. if you want it go buy it get a receipt. 

[LarryH57]

It would also be helpful to the buyer if the vehicle type was identified and photographed and a copy posted here, so we could collectively comment.

[Rootes75]

Does anyone have an idea of the vehicle type? It seems like the thread has gone cold.

[wally dugan]

l do not know what the problem is if he wants to buy this mystery vehicle and he cannot take sensible steps as one would do when buying any vehicle like a HPI check or in the case  a military vehicle a record check  even if it causes the MOD to take a interest and if it is [ STOLEN ] then it would save him a whole lot of grief  £35 is a small price for peace of mind

[ruxy]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:48 AM, oseveno said:

Hi everyone,

 I met a guy who told me that 40 years ago,  a sergeant found out that members of his platoon had checked out a vehicle in his name and took it home. After telling his superiors that he would get to the bottom of this,  he left to take back the vehicle. Once he recovered it, he decided to take it home instead.  There it sat in a field, under a cover hidden from the world until another man bought the land 20 years later.  Now that man is selling this little gem. Can I buy this legally? Is it possible to check a MV to see if is stolen? Does it matter after 40 years?

 

Thanks for your help! 

Your first post - obvious clue(s) - you are North American and a Troll  !

[David Herbert]

I regret to say that I agree with Ruxy. I did wonder if 'oseveno' is an anagram of anything but I think it's just random letters. He has not seen fit to comment on any of the very sensible answers so far so I agree that he is just winding us up.

David

[T8Hants]

Its case of the old saw, 'buy the item not the story'

[fv1609]

1 hour ago, David Herbert said:

I did wonder if 'oseveno' is an anagram of anything

 

OO7 ?

[Richard Farrant]

or 070 maybe?

[billh35]

Doesn't ring true this. Some years ago during Exercise Purple Warrior in south west Scotland, various items of military equipment were accidentally "mis-laid" and all hell broke lose. Dumfries & Galloway Police reported to RMP that their "lost property" at the end of the exercise included a Series III lwb Army Land Rover - how could any army forget a Land Rover and in a lay-by on the "old" A75 which was full of what appeared to be  bulk loaded ammunition boxes which was then under Police guard. I can only imagine the repercussions of this!

I had something similar happen in Belfast where I  was running a coaching operation. As a nationalised operator we provided all coaching to RCT for troop movements during Operation Banner. One of my drivers returned from a job and on checking his vehicle, quickly closed and secured it and came running to my office. He took me to the vehicle and there in the parcel rack were 4 SLRs. We quickly locked the vehicle up and a quick call to RCT brought the somewhat unexpected response of: "Tell your driver just to bring them back up to Thiepval Barracks." I immediately responded: "No way, you better send someone to collect them!" Within 3 minutes there was a Gazelle overhead our depot and the RUC had sealed off our bus station and depot. Minutes later 321 EOD arrived with their escorts. The ATO wanted to know how we had "acquired" these weapons and then went and checked them. As he was doing so the RMP arrived and were not happy bunnies! I was able to persuade the ATO that the vehicle had been secure and that I had checked for command wires etc. (after all Werner Heubeck was my boss) and they were safe. So he didn't carry out a controlled explosion. RMP bagged and removed the weapons and we knew there were four people who were going to be in big trouble! 

Edited October 2, 2020 by billh35

[oseveno]

Sorry for not responding,  my notifications stopped for some reason.  It is a fast attack vehicle, the 3 seater dune buggy from desert storm. There are no numbers on the frame or motor so I cant get it checked out. 

[ruxy]

36 minutes ago, oseveno said:

Sorry for not responding,  my notifications stopped for some reason.  It is a fast attack vehicle, the 3 seater dune buggy from desert storm. There are no numbers on the frame or motor so I cant get it checked out. 

Desert Storm  - which Op. by that name was over 40 years ago  ?

ISTR the  SAS did start off with VW buggy  LSV over 40 years ago.

[cosrec]

33 minutes ago, oseveno said:

Sorry for not responding,  my notifications stopped for some reason.  It is a fast attack vehicle, the 3 seater dune buggy from desert storm. There are no numbers on the frame or motor so I cant get it checked out. 

well if you cant check it out neither can anyone any one else so if you want it it get it bought if not stop posting so as not to be getting other naive  people wetting their pants

[oseveno]

It's a chenowth fast attack vehicle or desert patrol vehicle. It was in operation desert storm used by the US special forces. I don't know anything about buying military vehicles or the registration process of one. If I took it to the CHP office to get it stickered without numbers. Would I have a problem?

Thanks for your time everyone! I think any pant wetting from this point on would be just. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by oseveno