Sadiq Khan’s name has been drawn into a suspected scam after a vehicle not belonging to him was wrongly registered with his details.
The mayor of London was fined over an untaxed old Nissan Micra, which he does not own, it is understood.
At the heart of the mysterious case is a 24-year-old, blue Nissan Micra, which the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) spotted being untaxed in January.
The DVLA accused Lord Khan of being the keeper of the car as his name and date of birth appeared on the official records.
However, City Hall sources have said the registration in his name is a ‘scam’ as the car is not owned by him nor Transport for London, suggesting that he could have been wrongly convicted.
The case began to unfold last month when a magistrate in Hereford convicted Lord Khan in his absence and ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs, plus a £35.84 bill for the unpaid tax.
The magistrate used a controversial process called Single Justice Procedure (SJP), which means a case can be decided only on paper without the respondent or their lawyers present.
The fast-track mechanism is often used for minor offences such as speeding or TV licence breaches.
SJP was widely criticised when tens of thousands of train fare evasions were overturned in 2024 as being unlawful.
A source close to the mayor confirmed to that the ‘vehicle doesn’t belong to him.’
They said: ‘It’s a scam, and it’s not the first time that people have registered a vehicle with Sadiq.’
During the upheaval over the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), some motorists threatened to wrongly register their car in the mayor’s name.
The Nissan Micra wrongly linked to Lord Sadiq is unlikely to meet the ULEZ standards due to its age, it is understood.
Petrol cars that tend to be compliant are those registered as new after 2005, and diesel cars generally those first registered after September 2015.
DVLA has said the letter asking for confirmation of the vehicle’s keeper was not answered in January, prompting the criminal prosecution.
But court papers seen by the Press Association show that the agency’s letters addressed to the mayor about the tax bill were in fact sent to Gordon Ramsay’s east London restaurant, not the nearby TfL offices.
When the Press Association flagged the case to the government agency yesterday, DVLA officials said the case is being reviewed, and the circumstances of the prosecution are being investigated.
Lord Khan might end up having to appear in court in person in a bid to overturn the conviction.
People who believe they have been wrongly convicted of a crime in their absence can apply for their case to be reopened, usually by appearing in person in front of a judge.
Metro has approached DVLA for a comment.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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