By JOSIE CLARKE
At least $1 million of electrical goods will be handed back to their owners after a landmark court ruling against a secondhand dealer.
Mt Roskill company Professional Finance was closed after police said it had been operating illegally as a pawn shop, accepting and later selling household goods in return for high-interest loans.
In the Auckland District Court last week, Judge Cecilie Rushton cancelled the secondhand dealer's licence of Li Qun Chen, the woman who called herself the company's managing consultant, and dismissed an application by Ms Chen for a pawnbroker's licence.
Ms Chen supplied loans with an interest rate of 30 per cent a month to customers who handed her household goods as security. She then sold the goods within a month of the loan agreement expiring.
Judge Rushton said Ms Chen's business was "an example of gross deception at every angle."
The ruling has left a stockpile of televisions, stereos, videos and DVD players. Police say the owners are welcome to retrieve their equipment, and will not have to pay back their loans.
Police laid charges against Professional Finance last November for breaches of the Secondhand Dealers Act and the Pawnbrokers Act. The case was not to be heard until next year so police sought a cancellation of Ms Chen's licence meantime.
Auckland district licensing officer Robin Poole said Ms Chen had effectively operated as a pawnbroker.
"It's a system that is increasing across Auckland. We are concerned about the substantial amount of stolen goods being handed on in this way."
Police invite borrowers to pick up pawned goods
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