Dealer sentenced over CCD fraud
The former owner of a used-car sales business has been sentenced to home detention for attempting a $400,000 scam targeting the clean car discount (CCD) scheme.
Hamish Ian Gardyne, who used to own HVS Motors, appeared in the Dunedin District Court on September 9 and was sentenced to nine-and-a-half months’ home detention and 200 hours’ community work for using a document for a pecuniary advantage.
The 36-year-old had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge, which left him potentially facing a seven-year jail term.
Judge David Robinson rejected an application for a discharge without conviction in March this year and said Gardyne’s bid to exploit the CCD was “out-and-out fraud”, reports the Otago Daily Times.
The judge had postponed the sentencing for six months to allow Gardyne time to sell the business, although there was no indication as to whether that had occurred.
His conviction means his vehicle-trading registration will be cancelled and he will be barred from such work for five years.
A summary of facts from the NZTA says Gardyne imported 10,050 vehicles between 2019 and 2023, of which 1,380 were Nissan Leafs.
The CCD, which the government repealed on December 31, 2023, provided rebates based on carbon dioxide emissions for new and used vehicle imports. Owners could receive money back if the vehicle was not sold within three months of registration, or if it was used as a demonstration vehicle.
Gardyne registered 119 Nissan Leafs in March 2023 and sought rebates totalling $410,550, but he only received one payment of $3450 because applications had to be made for each EV.
The court heard Gardyne arranged to ship 90 of the registered vehicles to Australia within the weeks after his application, but later told the NZTA most of the cars were in Christchurch, Invercargill and Dunedin and being used as “demonstrator vehicles”.
Judge Robinson said those statements were “misleading”, reports the Otago Daily Times.
The defendant repaid the $3,450 in September 2023 and withdrew all other applications for rebates under the CCD.
Gardyne founded HVS Motors and the business expanded to have a number of sites across the South Island. It also offers sales through an online platform.
In a statement released after his sentencing, he says he pleaded guilty to protect his family from him being imprisoned but does not accept NZTA’s version of events.
“I am now stepping aside from the business leadership to pursue legal avenues that hold NZTA’s conduct to account, supported by extensive evidence of targeted, heavy-handed enforcement to cover for wider regulatory failings,” he adds.
