Police continue to examine theft of cars using key generator

Officers arrested and charged four people in the Ballarat area last week after a string of vehicle thefts worth hundreds-of-thousands of dollars.

Included in the thefts was the Holden Clubsport from Jacob Toyota in Wodonga in the early hours of December 22.

A Holden Statesman was stolen from Ovens Ford at Wangaratta, a Toyota Camry taken from Wodonga's OzCar on Tuesday last week, and a $100,000 ski boat stolen from the Yarrawonga Marine Centre on Thursday last week.

The boat was later recovered near Ballarat.

It's unclear if there are any links to the theft of multiple Mercedes Benz vehicles from Baker Motors in Albury on December 16, but the incident happened when the group was active.

Police allege a syndicate, including a Yabba North couple, stole vehicles from Cobram, Shepparton, Horsham, Stawell, Maryborough, and Kialla, with some worth $75,000.

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Detective Senior Constable Haydn Templeton said investigators were still trying to work out how many vehicles had been stolen.

A universal key generator was found when police arrested the group on Thursday.

The detective was asked in court about the key generator, and how it worked.

He said the technology was new to him and police were still trying to piece things together, but understood data was transferred onto a blank fob while inside the cars to start the vehicles.

"That's part of our investigation," he said.

"This is part of an ongoing intelligence investigation that is being conducted by Victoria Police."

Detective Senior Constable Templeton said the device "definitely does work".

A screen and other parts were found in the Toyota HiLux used to steal the boat from Yarrawonga.

The court heard details for 25 vehicles were found on the device from the past month.

The court heard similar techniques were used in the thefts, with windows smashed and the key generator used to start the cars without a key.

A different key generator was seized from a group member in October.

Two of the four charged people remain in custody and two have been bailed.

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