Counterfeit spare parts: According to the Tomponzi Investigations Agency, there is a total volume worth hundreds of billions of lire of counterfeit and stolen car and motorcycle spare parts illegally sold every year in Italy The sale of counterfeit and stolen car and motorcycle parts in Italy amounts to a total volume worth about 1.000 billion lire per year. This activity is intensifying, especially concerning motorcycles. Those responsible for these activities are usually above suspicion, often anonymous import - export companies. These are the first results of the research carried out by the Tomponzi investigations Studies Division after an investigation promoted by a large foreign automobile company. Due to a series of "strange events" evident on the German market at the end of last spring, (a significant decrease in the export of mechanical and electrical replacements and stolen spare parts and motor vehicles disappearing) that had strong repercussions on Italy. "Aside from the illegal spare parts market - Miriam Tomponzi, president of the Tomponzi Investigations agency, points out - we have also discovered organizations that sell vehicles that come from a so-called parallel market and also high-powered automobiles stolen from Germany and north Europe". Once the stolen automobiles are hidden, they are immediately completely redone (this means that they are completely cleaned out, even the upholstery is replaced, new documents are supplied and the car is ready to be sold). This practice is most common in Italy and Germany. The best "sales" period for this merchandise is in the summer, when there are less controls and everyone is in a hurry.