Hello I would like to ask a question regarding a vehicle I purchased a few months ago and a day after I purchased the vehicle it surfaced that it had been stolen. I was unaware of this as I went to the traffic department and nothing showed on that exact day of the purchase but the day after the purchase I went to the traffic department nearest to my home and it appeared the vehicle is a stolen vehicle. The previous owner I think is supposedly the one who stole the vehicle from someone else and then registered the vehicle in his name because the owner before him had handed all the papers of the vehicle to the man whom I purchased the car from. This guy also gave me the original registration papers of the car, a copy of his ID, and also signed on the form from the traffic department for the move of ownership from him to myself after I paid the amount for the car. I am not quite sure what my rights are at the moment and I don't know the procedures that the police can go through to solve this. I have copies of our chats as well and all the original papers of the car as well as proof that I withdrew the money from my account the day I purchased the car and the guy is seen with me in the bank I withdrew the money from. Can you please tell me what I could expect from this whole nightmare of a situation. I am in Western Cape South Africa. I took the car to the police station as soon as I found out by the traffic department that it is a stolen vehicle and they were keeping the car there whilst conducting the investigation but now I've heard that the car was returned to the first owner and this first owner initially made a case against the man I bought the car from saying that the man reversed the eft after he received the car and papers and drove back home with the car. If I'm not mistaken, if the first owner had given the papers to the man, saw the money reflect on his bank account and gave the car to the second owner who then registered the car in his own name, how can the car go back to the first owner? Please help 

Hi there,

I see that you haven't made a payment for the question, but I'm going to assist you a little. If you want to ask a follow-up question, please make the required payment.

You shouldn't have taken the vehicle to the SAPS station. You need to see a lawyer to issue a summons to get your money back from this guy.

Att. Patrick

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