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eBay resellers sentenced after Chain Reaction trace £100,000 of stolen bike parts

One claimed he had bought the goods at a car boot sale

Two brothers have been jailed after making £100k selling bike parts stolen from Chain Reaction Cycles.

BikeBiz reports that Chain Reaction noticed a significant loss of stock from its warehouse in Carrickfergus and subsequently discovered that four eBay traders were selling parts similar to those it believed to be missing.

Directors of the firm made a test purchase and when serial numbers matched, they informed the police.

Alan Bowen's fingerprints were found on the bubble wrap of one of the packages and detectives discovered that £88,645 had been deposited into the bank account of his mother, Valerie, via PayPal.

When she returned from holiday, she denied all knowledge of the money. Her other son, Brian, later told police that he had put her under pressure to use her account.

Brian Bowen was jailed for six months after he admitted selling stolen bike parts online over a six-month period from October 2012.

Alan Bowen had used two trade names on eBay and transferred PayPal money into his girlfriend's bank account. He was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for selling almost £14,000 of stolen goods over a four-month period up to August 2013.

The aggravating factors for Brian Bowen were the high value of the transactions and their repetitive nature.

Brian Bowen claimed that he bought the goods at a "car boot sale" and that all had come in plain packaging with no barcodes.

Judge McFarland told the brothers: "I am satisfied there is sufficient proximity between you and the sale of these stolen goods.

"I just don't accept that these items were randomly purchased at a car boot sale. I don't know the exact relationship between you and the person who stole the items but it is clear it was a mutually beneficial relationship."

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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5 comments

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don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
1 like

Who were the cyclists that bought this "too good to be true" priced kit?

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jimbo2112 replied to don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
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don simon wrote:

Who were the cyclists that bought this "too good to be true" priced kit?

 

How do you know how much the kit was sold on eBay for?

Avatar
don simon fbpe replied to jimbo2112 | 6 years ago
1 like

jimbo2112 wrote:

don simon wrote:

Who were the cyclists that bought this "too good to be true" priced kit?

 

How do you know how much the kit was sold on eBay for?

I'm fucking awesome, that's how.

Avatar
DrG82 replied to don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
1 like
don simon wrote:

jimbo2112 wrote:

don simon wrote:

Who were the cyclists that bought this "too good to be true" priced kit?

 

How do you know how much the kit was sold on eBay for?

I'm fucking awesome, that's how.

And modest too.

Avatar
janusz0 | 6 years ago
4 likes

Chapeau!

As a satisfied and long term customer of Chain Reaction, I'm pleased to hear this news.  Not only did CR lose the goods, but I bet they wasted a lot of time investigating eBay and other outlets, not to mention liasing with the police.

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