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A jewellery company was fined $50,000 for misleading customers over the value of diamond-studded items sold.
Carrerabenz Diamond Industries pleaded guilty in Auckland District Court on Tuesday to breaching the Fair Trading Act.
The Auckland-based company had used Australian insurance valuations, converted to a New Zealand figure and adjusted for GST and taxes, to give its jewellery a price value.
The value was then discounted, and the pieces sold in sales held in Auckland and Wellington hotels in 2003.
The company advertised on radio and television, saying its goods were 80 per cent cheaper than those of major retailers and independent valuers.
- NZPA
