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Toronto, May 10, 2005 - The
Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry
Council (OMVIC) reports that
recent convictions and stiff
penalties for illegal vehicle
sales are sending a strong
message to curbsiders. “Curbsider”
is an industry term referring to
unregistered sellers of motor
vehicles.
In Ontario, all motor vehicle
dealers and salespeople must be
registered under the Motor
Vehicle Dealers Act (MVDA)
before buying, selling or
leasing vehicles. Curbsiders are
subject to prosecution by OMVIC.
Vehicles sold by curbsiders are
often stolen, odometer-tampered
or have liens against them, and
industry studies suggest as many
as 25% of classified ads are
placed by curbsiders.
Recognizing the risk curbsiders
pose, OMVIC has continually made
prosecution of curbsiders a
priority. The council laid close
to 2,000 curbsider-related
charges in 2004 alone. OMVIC’s
Executive Director, Carl
Compton, says these charges,
combined with stiff fines
recently imposed by the courts,
are sending a much-needed
warning to the curbsider
community. “Our investigators
are actively weeding out illegal
vehicle sales, but we need to
credit our courts with
recognizing the severity of the
offences. Minimal fines may only
represent the cost of doing
business for many curbsiders,
but the heavy fines and jail
time we have seen recently offer
much more of a deterrent.”
The heaviest sentence for
illegal car sales was handed
down in Ontario just last fall.
On November 22, 2004 Daniel
Nedelcu and his numbered company
were convicted of 23 counts of
operating in the motor vehicle
dealer industry without the
benefit of registration. Nedelcu
faces a staggering $493,750 in
fines and a 4-month jail term.
Other recent convictions
include:
- 1414059 Ontario Inc.: Convicted
Thursday, March 24. The numbered
company plead guilty to 14
counts of selling vehicles
without the benefit of
registration and its officer and
director plead guilty to 5
counts. 1414059 Ontario Inc. and
its director were hit with an
aggregate fine of $187,500.
- Ken Tam: Convicted Monday, May
2. Tam was found guilty on 10
counts of selling vehicles
without the benefit of
registration and faces an
aggregate fine of $50,000. This
conviction marks Tam’s second
offence for illegal car sales –
he was previously convicted in
2003.
- Holakoo Hedayatzadeh: Convicted
Monday, May 2. Hedayatzadeh
plead guilty to 9 counts of
selling vehicles without the
benefit of registration
and
faces 1 year of probation and an
aggregate fine of $24,750.
Under new legislation expected
to be introduced later this
year, curbsiders will face a
minimum fine of $2,500 per
count. Suspected curbsiders can
be reported to OMVIC at
1-888-NOCURBS or
nocurbs@omvic.on.ca.
OMVIC is the self-management
organization of the motor
vehicle dealer industry and
administers the Motor Vehicle
Dealers Act – a public
protection statute – on behalf
of the Minister of Consumer and
Business Services. OMVIC’s
mandate is to maintain a safe
and informed marketplace by
ensuring registration of dealers
and salespeople, regularly
inspecting all of Ontario’s
9,000 dealerships, maintaining a
complaint line for consumers and
conducting investigations.
OMVIC’s Board of Directors
includes 9 elected dealers and 3
consumer representatives
appointed by government. OMVIC
is also responsible for
administering the Motor Vehicle
Dealers Compensation Fund.
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