Rich list car dealer accused of odometer tampering

A Hamilton car dealer listed on the country's rich list has been accused of winding back odometers on vehicles he sells.

Api Hemi, 38, a joint owner and director of Mega Motors Ltd on Te Rapa Straight has been under investigation by a man privately hired by other local vehicle dealers, The Waikato Times reported today.

Mr Hemi has vehemently denied the accusations, which come after an eight-month investigation by Dermot Nottingham, who exposed widespread odometer fraud in 1997.

Mr Nottingham said he had spoken to former employees at Mega Motors as part of his investigations and they had spoken about vehicles at the yard being "clocked".

The Waikato Times, which had also been investigating the issue, said Mr Hemi had been approached by other local vehicle dealers and shown evidence of speedo tampering on a specific truck.

The truck allegedly had 100,000km wound off the speedo after having been bought at auction in Japan.

A trader at the Japanese auction had evidence the truck had about 100,000 more kilometres on the clock when it was sold than when it appeared for sale at Mega Motors.

Another Hamilton dealer had taken the truck from Mega Motors saying he wanted to show it to a client, and compared paperwork and a chassis number which showed the odometer had been wound since coming from Japan.

Mr Hemi was trying to sell the truck for $27,995. The dealer said he believed anyone buying the truck for the listed price would have been defrauded by a minimum of $10,000.

Mr Hemi's lawyer said he or Mr Hemi had not seen any evidence implicating Mr Hemi "in any misconduct associated with alleged clocking in Japan".

The truck was independently certified by two certifiers, one in Japan and one in New Zealand, the lawyer said.

- NZPA