Auckland man gets home detention after earning $40,000 issuing fraudulent WoFs

Auckland man Imroz Taki was sentenced to home detention for issuing 677 fraudulent WoFs. Photo / 123rf

• Newmarket Automotive Repairs owner Imroz Taki fraudulently issued 677 warrants of fitness.
• The Auckland man charged customers $60 for each warrant, earning him more than $40,000.
• The offending occurred between December 9, 2022 and June 6, 2023.

An Auckland man has been given home detention for fraudulently issuing warrants of fitness that earned him more than $40,000 in undue revenue.

Imroz Taki, the owner of Newmarket Automotive Repairs, was convicted of issuing 677 warrants of fitness (WoFs) between December 9, 2022 and June 6, 2023, despite not being appointed as an authorised vehicle inspector.

Customers were charged $60 for each WoF.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) investigators found Taki had used the vehicle inspector appointment belonging to a previous employee but had not completed any of the inspections.

NZTA immediately cancelled Newmarket Automotive’s inspecting organisation authority and all WoFs issued by Taki during that time.

Affected vehicle owners were contacted and asked to get their vehicles rechecked, revealing a significant percentage of them had faults.

Nicole Botherway, NZTA senior manager of safer vehicles, said Taki’s actions risked the safety of the vehicle owners, passengers and other road users.

“Warrant-of-fitness checks ensure that cars have undergone a general safety check to help keep drivers, passengers and road users safe. It’s very disappointing when fraud happens in the vehicle inspecting system.

“People should be reassured that NZTA has the access to data and intelligence to investigate when we have concerns about fraud.

“We take swift action and hold vehicle inspectors to account when vehicle safety is compromised.”

Taki was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks’ home detention in the Auckland District Court.

The sentence had a starting point of two years and six months’ imprisonment, before the judge took into account Taki’s guilty plea and prior good character.