According to the vehicle history company Cartell 850 official NCT certificates which were stolen from an NCT centre in Drogheda, during an armed hold-up in October 2013, are still circulating on the black market. According to Cartell.ie Director, Jeff Aherne, the stolen certificates might be displayed in windows of vehicles which are currently for sale in our used car market.

In a statement Mr. Aherne said it has been confirmed to them "that this certificate was one of the 850 certificates stolen in a raid in 2013. Understandably, these certificates will look completely authentic, as they were stolen at source, but the numbers on the certificates are not in official circulation. The consumer is encouraged to verify the numbers on the NCT Certificate with the official records to authenticate the certificate.”

The history check company also fears that these certificates are being sold to people who may not understand that purchasing such items is an offence and a conviction of such carries five penalty points, a possible fine of €2,000 and/or up to three months in prison.

Mr. Aherne continued, “If you are offered a stolen NCT certificate, you should not accept it, or display it on any vehicle, as it is an offence to use a motor vehicle without a valid NCT test certificate. As a buyer of a used vehicle you should be smart – verify all your documents as part of the buying process and that includes verifying the NCT Certificate number.”