NSW Fair Trading’s crackdown on odometer tampering shows no signs of slowing down, with another successful prosecution in Paramatta Local Court.
Mustapha Adel Ajouz of Guildford pleaded guilty on April 21 of three counts of odometer tampering, after winding back almost 700,000 kilometres on two Toyota Hilux vehicles and a Toyota Prado.
He was convicted and ordered to pay $12,855 fines and costs and a further $57,050 compensation to two consumers he sold the tampered vehicles to.
NSW Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe said the agency had successfully prosecuted 10 odometer tamperers so far this year, including Ajouz’s cousin, Mustapha Abdul Ajouz, who was prosecuted for similar odometer offences two weeks ago.
“In this most recent case, one unwitting consumer paid $40,000 for a 2009 Toyota Prado that had supposedly clocked up only 87,000 kilometres,” Stowe notes.
The vehicle had travelled almost 300,000 kilometres when Ajouz bought it from a private seller for just $19,750 five months earlier.
In September 2014 the NSW Government introduced tougher penalties for unlawful odometer tampering, doubling the maximum fine per offence from $11,000 to $22,000.
NSW Fair Trading offers a free app, My Next Car, for consumers planning to buy a second hand car.
The app can be downloaded here.
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