Swansea trio jailed after DVLA fraud

Nation.Cymru staff

Three men from Swansea have been jailed after they were part of a seven-figure DVLA fraud scheme.

32-year-old Matthew Holloway from Birchgrove – a DVLA employee – accessed his employers’ systems to manipulate records and amend vehicle registration documents to sell vehicles with a false history in order to make a financial gain.

Holloway was working alongside two car dealers – 44-year-old Ashley Harries, from Llansamlet, and 32-year-old Joshua Sawyer, from Morriston.

All three men pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud by false representation on January 19.

Matthew Holloway has been sentenced to 63 months in prison. Joshua Sawyer will go to prison for 27 months, and Ashley Harris has been sentenced to 32 months in jail.

Sergeant Emma Adamiec said: “Matthew Holloway’s actions, which were all to achieve financial reward for him and his accomplices, will have put the lives of others in danger.

“Those who purchased the cars with these false documents will have been unaware if the vehicles were previously written off, or if they were on cloned plates or stolen.

“Both Holloway’s co-defendants were paying him to carry out his illegal actions.

“All three men were reckless and dishonest, and are rightfully now going to prison.”