Auckland man issued almost 700 fraudulent WoFs
An Auckland man has been sentenced to home detention after issuing almost 700 fraudulent warrants of fitness without proper authorisation.
Imroz Taki, owner of Newmarket Automotive Repairs, was sentenced to 10 months and 2 weeks' home detention by the Auckland District Court on May 26.
He was found guilty of issuing 677 WoFs between December 2022 and June 2023, despite not being appointed as an authorised vehicle inspector.
Taki had used the vehicle inspector appointment belonging to a former employee and had not completed any of the inspections, an NZTA investigation found.
Customers were charged $60 per WoF, with Taki pocketing more than $40,000 in improper income.
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NZTA immediately cancelled Newmarket Automotive's inspecting organisation authority and wiped all WoFs issued by Taki during that time.
Affected vehicle owners were contacted and a significant percentage were found to have faults when rechecked at other inspecting organisations.
NZTA senior manager of safer vehicles Nicole Botherway said Taki risked the safety of vehicle owners, their passengers, and other road users through his actions.
"People should be reassured that NZTA has the access to data and intelligence to investigate when we have concerns about fraud," she said. "We take swift action and hold vehicle inspectors to account when vehicle safety is compromised."
Judge JM Jelas started sentencing from a base of two years and six months' imprisonment but reduced the sentence due to Taki's guilty plea and previously clean record.
As the inspecting organisation representative, Taki was responsible for ensuring only NZTA-authorised inspectors carried out vehicle inspections.
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