A used car salesman has been fined $25,000 for winding back the odometer on cars he sold, a practice the Queensland Office of Fair Trading says is “reasonably common” in the industry.
Alexander Thomas Hallett was banned from holding a dealer’s licence for five years after pleading guilty to 13 charges in the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old was the sole director of Hallett Projects, which operated second-hand car dealerships on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.
The court heard that between May 2023 and September 2024, Hallett wound back a total of 648,000 kilometres on the odometers of seven vehicles, which misrepresented the condition and value by $64,000.
He also pleaded guilty to dishonestly converting an amount to his own use for pocketing the entire $37,500 proceeds from the sale of another vehicle on consignment.
Counsel for the Office of Fair Trading, Louise Benjamin, said the consumer watchdog was well aware of the tactics and scams used by dodgy operators and admitted odometer tampering was widespread.
“He thinks he is above the law and … takes advantage of consumers,” Ms Benjamin said.
“During the sale of these motor vehicles, the defendant has misrepresented the values, the year and condition and has tampered with the odometers in order to gain a financial advantage.
“Odometer fraud is a serious problem which impacts the community, results in financial loss and safety issues.”
Hallett’s lawyer, Jeff Horsey, said his client had no criminal history, was now employed by a property developer and was studying a diploma of finance and mortgage broking.
“My client had an investor or silent partner in this business who was putting him under financial strain,” Mr Horsey said.
“He was put in a position where he had to make money fast, and he made stupid decisions and took shortcuts.
“He has got productive things to occupy his time, and he is taking responsibility and working hard to rectify his mistakes.”
Mr Horsey argued that no conviction should be recorded because it would harm his employment prospects.
Magistrate Veena Goverdhan referred the fine to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) and did not record convictions, despite Hallett making no attempt to compensate the customers.