Kent Police have managed to secure jail terms for three men behind a spate of keyless car thefts.
Alminas Satas, Maksims Seluks and Olgierd Golubovski were arrested and charged following an investigation by the Kent Crime Squad.
The trio were linked to the thefts of 29 vehicles from Ashford, Hawkinge, Tonbridge, Tenterden and Maidstone in October and November 2022. They used an electronic device to capture the signals emitted by car keys and trick vehicles into thinking keys were present to steal them.
An investigation was launched after the first vehicles, a BMW and a Mercedes, were stolen in Ashford on 12th October 2022.
Detectives found the thieves were travelling down from east London in vehicles which had cloned number plates on them to avoid detection, and they would target BMWs, Mercedes and Range Rovers around Kent, which would then be driven back to various locations in Essex and London, where is it believed they were stripped down and sold for parts.
In the early hours of 8th December, officers in Kent established that a BMW seen on the M25 was travelling on cloned plates. It was followed by officers in unmarked cars and brought to a stop after exiting the A249 near Sittingbourne. Occupants Satas and Seluks were arrested and a third man ran from the scene.
The vehicle was found to be registered under a false name at an address in Dagenham. Officers later attended the address and arrested Golubovski.
we are pleased our meticulous investigation saw these men arrested and charged
Evidence from his and the other men’s phones linked them to the numerous thefts around the county over the preceding two months. Satas, Seluks and Golubovski all later admitted conspiring to steal vehicles and were sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday 13th November 2023.
Satas, 26, of Bell Farm Avenue, Dagenham, was jailed for three years, four months; Golubovski, 24, of Rowdowns Road, Dagenham, was sentenced to two years, four months; and Seluks, 23, of Vincent Road, Dagenham, got two years and one month.
Detective Constable Scott Drake, Kent Police’s investigating officer, said ‘These three men were relentless in their targeting of cars to steal and quickly take out of the county. I would like to thank the local Neighbourhood Watch coordinators who worked tirelessly to obtain crucial CCTV footage and for the support of the local communities in providing important evidence in this case’.
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