In what is yet another chapter in a long line of Skyline’s to be crushed and destroyed by Homeland Security, a man in De Pere Wisconsin recently had two of his R33 Skylines seized by ICE.
One of which should look familiar to fans of the original “Fast and Furious” movie, “Big Bird” was a nickname given to the yellow Skyline loaned to Paramount during shooting.
According to the article, Justin Beno, the owner of the Skylines had owned these vehicles and registered them through his respective state. However when found that these vehicles lacked the proper bond paperwork and further HAD THEIR JAPANESE VIN TAGS REMOVED, the registration was rescinded.
Mr Beno then foolishly decided he would try and sell these Skylines to a private buyer, but failed to disclose full information to the undercover agent. And that’s where he lost these cars, as he told the undercover agent it would come with a Florida title, which he would have to transfer.
While I’ve never seen a state titled R33 have it’s registration rescinded, and can certainly sympathize with Mr. Beno’s situation, it’s his own damn fault. Having sold my own R33 recently, you can bet your bottom dollar my paperwork and facts were laid out in proper fashion to the new owner.
He got stuck with his Skylines, and instead of telling the prospective buyer the truth, he lied with an obvious intent to mislead and dump the problem onto someone else.
The feds found his case to be so egregious, that they charged him with 2 felonies relating to conspiracy to commit fraud and possessing vehicles without vehicle identification numbers.
And that kiddies, is a lesson well learned for anyone dealing in gray market vehicles, Skylines or otherwise. Whether or not you agree with Homeland Security and ICE using precious tax dollars to chase down and crush these cars is irrelevant.
Feigning ignorance of the laws relating to these vehicles and the sale of gray market cars doesn’t help you when the hammer of justice comes down on your head.
