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Toronto, December 04, 1998 –
Ontario's Motor Vehicle Dealers
Compensation Fund (MVDCF) will
compensate Mr. John Lesko, one
of the victims of the "Uniglobe
Auto Brokers" fraud, the Fund's
trustees announced today.
The MVDCF Board of Trustees,
which comprises Dealers, members
of industry associations and
consumer representatives,
awarded Mr, Lesko $15,000, the
maximum amount allowed per
claim.
Mr, Lesko was one of some 400
people who were taken in by a
complex scheme that netted
crooks more than $4 million in
automobiles, boats and other
property in late 1993 and early
1994. The Ministry of Consumer
and Commercial Relations
investigated the fraud in 1994,
but officials decided that it
might not fall under the
compensation fund's terms of
reference, which restrict claims
to acts committed by registered
dealers. The Ministry advised
consumers to wait until the
criminal case was decided before
submitting their claims to the
Fund. When the role of a
registered dealer was uncovered
later, several claims were
submitted.
"After reviewing new information
that was just made available to
us, the Compensation Fund's
trustees concluded that Mr.
Lesko's claim was eligible for
payment under the rules that
govern the Fund," said MVDCF
Chair Virginia Smith. "The fraud
involved a dealer who was
registered under the Motor
Vehicle Dealers Act. It is
unfortunate that this
information wasn't available to
the Ministry of Consumer and
Commercial Relations at the time
of its investigation." "There
are fraud artists in every walk
of life," said Mr. Hugh Sisley,
President of the Toronto
Automobile Dealers Association.
"This decision clearly
demonstrates that when crooks
are discovered among automobile
dealers, the honest dealers, who
comprise the vast majority of
the industry, don't hesitate to
take action to protect
consumers.
"This ruling shows that
self-management works;
government sets the standards
and the motor vehicle dealers
themselves administer the
regulations that protect
consumers," said Mr. David
Tsubouchi, Minister of Consumer
and Commercial Relations.
"Confidence in the industry as a
whole increases when dealers
demonstrate - through decisions
such as these - that they can
and do protect the interests of
consumers."
The Motor Vehicle Dealers
Compensation Fund was
established in 1986 as a "Court
of Last Resort" to reimburse
consumers for motor vehicle
transactions with a registered
dealer that involved proven
fraud, theft or false pretences
under the specific circumstances
described in the Motor Vehicle
Dealers Act. Each case is
considered individually on its
own merits. Consumers are
expected to have exhausted other
legal remedies prior to making a
claim against the Fund and to
provide full documentation as
evidence of their claim. There
is a two-year statutory limit on
submitting claims.
Because of the two-year limit,
consumers wishing to make a
claim related to the Uniglobe
fraud must do so before May
1999.
Since its inception, the Fund
has paid out $2.5 million in 700
claims.
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