"What's the use of all the paperwork, forms and accountibility if someone can just claim he bought them at flea markets?"

Pete; Possession of stolen property is still a crime even if one purchased the stolen property at a flea market from someone else. I know from a bitter personal experience I was involved in.

Many years ago I purchased a year-old 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon with 5,000 miles from a newspaper ad. I went to the seller's apartment in Seaside Heights, NJ to look at the car and take it for a test drive. The man was very affable. He reminded me of Allan Funt, of the TV show "Candid Camera". He just asked if I had a driver's license, which I produced, and he gave me the keys to take the car for a test drive. I thought, man, this guy is very trusting.

Came back to the apartment and found several people in his lovely apartment looking at other stuff for sale. He was selling off all of his beautiful quality furnishings to the bare walls. Many furniture buyers were on the premises picking up their purchases or leaving deposits on furniture and carpets they wanted to buy. I was admiring a cherry wood gun case that my son would have loved to own.

The seller of the fine automobile claimed that he had purchased the car overseas in England and had it shipped to the U.S. upon his retirement as a Colonel from the SAC (Strategic Air Comand). Upon his return to the U.S. he discovered that his wife had been cheating on him and that he had been re-activated to train Israel pilots on new jet fighter planes that Israel had recently purchased from the U.S. He was leaving for Alaska in one week and had to get rid of everything before he left. The price was right..., in fact downright cheap! I begged & borrowed money from my Mom and brother and purchased the car outright.

Two days after I had left a deposit, Colonel Murray, the seller, had the car all waxed and polished and detailed for me and we met one day after work as he signed over the title papers gave me the keys to the car and asked me to drop him off at a nearby car rental office as he had a flight to catch in Philadelphia the next morning.

That was the last I saw of him. Almost three years later, after I had taken the car back to a local Oldsmobile dealer several times during this period in Point Pleasant Beach for routine maintenance ... and after two automobile registration renewals after the plates had expired, one day the FBI showed up at my door and asked me if that was my car parked in the driveway. I said "yes", is there a problem? The FBI investigator showed me a picture and asked if I knew this man? I said "yes", that's Colonel Murray.

Well, it turns out that "Colonel Murray" (real name was Esposito) was wanted for embezzelment, fraud, and forging government documents ... and that the car I purchased from him didn't belong to him ... and it was not his car to sell to me.

Long story..., but bear with me. A week later GMAC showed up with a tow truck and towed my car away. The car really belonged to the finance company, and if I wanted to keep the car, I was obliged to pay the balance due on "Mr. Murray's" loan... to which I vigorously protested. I hired an attorney and lost the case. The analogy given was that if your next door neighbor's tv set was stolen ... and it was discovered that you had it in your house ... you are obligated to return it because it is STOLEN PROPERTY ... no matter that you had purchased it in good faith. No charges were leveled against me, as I had purchased the automobile and good faith and because I had made no attempt at concealing my purchase by bringing it in for service at an Oldsmobile dealership.

I just wondered why it took almost three years for the FBI to catch up with the paper trail???