A shonky car dealer who traded without a licence and withheld more than a million dollars from his customers will spend up to three years in jail.
Mathew David Hale, the director of Gasoline Machine – trading as Gasoline Motor Co – had pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud, three counts of larceny and one count of trading without a motor vehicle trader's licence. He was sentenced in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday and was given a 20-month non-parole period.
His prosecution was the culmination of a two-year joint investigation between NSW Police and NSW Fair Trading, Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said in a statement.
In 2016, Fair Trading issued a public warning about Hale "after a huge number of complaints were received about his dodgy dealings", Mr Kean said.
The full article by Jenny Noyes can be read on the Sydney Morning Herald
