State agents raid car dealerships accused of printing fake dealer tags

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Three Clayton County used car lots have a temporary hold on temporary tags. That's after state revenue agents swooped in with search warrants.

Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland was at one of the dealerships Friday when state investigators raided the lot.

State revenue agents are continuing a state-wide crackdown on car lots that print up temporary tags

Agents told Strickland they found several dealer tags that were in question during Friday’s raid.

“Do you have anything to say about state agents in your business looking for evidence you've done wrong?” Strickland asked car dealer Anee Foik Akpan.

“No,” Akpan answered.

But then he did have something to say.

“Do you think you've broken any laws or done anything wrong?” Strickland asked Akpan.

“I think I've done something wrong,” Akpan answered.

His was one of three Clayton County car lots searched for evidence of temp tag violations.

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“We’ve noticed that these dealers consistently print hundreds of temporary operating permits above the number of cars that they actually sell,” Chief of Revenue Special Investigations Josh Waites told Stickland. “So, if that person were to hit you we may not be able to find out where they're from.”

Agents figured out the lot was putting temporary tags on rental cars, catching one renter off guard Friday.

“I don't know what to think. I'm here to rent a car, get a ride to go to work and this is what I end up in,” customer Mamaduo Diallo said.

One of the irregularities agents found were laminated dealer tags. They're supposed to be metal. One of the tags was a laminated photo copy of a metal plate.

“We know exactly how many plates each dealership is issued and if they print them it circumvents the system and we don't know how many are out there,” Waites told Strickland.

Strickland watched as an employee was patted down after agents caught him with one of the printed tags, but there was no arrest.

Waites said it may be just a matter of time.

“We suspect there could be additional illegal activity, so we'll make arrests at the end of the case,” Waites said.

Akpan said he's been in business seven years and plans to attend a hearing to get his temp tag rights reinstated.

Cox Media Group