London’s Metropolitan Police has smashed a criminal gang that was responsible for introducing hundreds of fraudulently obtained vehicle operator licences into the market.

John Plummeridge and Philip Cameron masterminded a scam to use faked documents to acquire O-licences over a period of several years.

The two men were sentenced to four years and 51 weeks respectively at Southend Crown Court on 3 December.

Detective Inspector Andy Rose, from the Met’s traffic unit, told IFW the two men had carefully orchestrated applications through the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa), falsifying bank statements and creating identities to obtain licences.

Officers told IFW that it was impossible to know how many similar scams were currently in operation.

The arrests followed a paper trail that began at a Vosa lorry maintenance centre in Yeading, and connected a number of vehicles and licences to a single post office box in Watford - and subsequently to the two men who were trading as consultants under the name Cameron and Associates.

Rose said: "Vosa officials at Yeading were aware of one or two individuals who were there almost on a daily basis, albeit associated with a number of different vehicles on a number of different licences.

"That peaked their interest and led them to look more closely at the application forms that had been used to obtain these licences." Four other men were charged and fined in connection with the case, including: Thomas McKinney, owner of Rino Haulage, who was fined £22,000 (US$32,000) and has been subject to a £65,000 forfeiture order; Mohan Singh Bambra, a director of Iver Builders Merchants, who was banned from the sector and fined £25,000; and Martin John Lavelle, of MJL Environmental who was fined £500.