A vehicle dealer who wiped millions of miles off the clocks of more than 100 vans profited by well over £100,000, Trading Standards officials have said.
Maxwell Stuart Alvey, 50, bought the vans at auction and tampered with their mileage between August 2009 and June 2010 in a bid to increase their value.
Alvey is estimated to have made in excess of £100,000 in less than a year from buying the high-mileage vehicles at auction, clocking them and then selling them on to unsuspecting businesses.
Alvey, of Gedling Road in Arnold, Notts, has admitted 10 counts of fraud and will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court today.
Cleared of involvement in the scheme was his former partner, Jane Louise Starbrook.
Trading Standards officers launched their investigation after receiving a number of complaints that vehicles bought from Alvey's company, Premier Van Centre, were showing an unusual amount of wear and tear for their mileage.
The shocking extent of the scam was uncovered when Trading Standards officials cross-referenced the genuine mileage of the vehicles from auction house records with milometer readings in the vans and Auto Trader adverts placed by Alvey.
Trading Standards officers sifted through documents and sales records relating to 123 vehicles, 111 of which had already been sold.
In the worst example, Alvey took more than 275,000 miles off a Mercedes Sprinter van - clocking the genuine 364,370 milometer reading back to just 89,000.
The remaining 12 vehicles found in Alvey's possession were seized. Only four of the 123 vehicles had not had their milometer readings altered.
Following sentencing, Trading Standards' Proceeds of Crime team will begin proceedings to recoup profits Alvey has made from the van scam.