It seems to me the MVA should bear some responsibility for the monies spent on the restoration. After all, the owner bought it, properly registered it, and the MVA didn't notice it was a stolen vehicle.
Amazing how you can be held liable for their screw up like that.
__________________ You ever wonder what medieval cook looked at the guts of a pig and thought, "I bet if you washed out that poop tube, you could stuff it with meat and eat it."