Furious car buyers, ripped off by the 'Wolf of Church St', fight to get money back

Friday, 14 December 2018

Who is Brent Smith?

Brent Smith was an outwardly successful Auckland car dealer. But he's racked up more than a dozen appearances at the Motor Trade Disputes Tribunal, and lost. Anuja Nadkarni investigates the story of the dodgy car dealer and his string of victims.

Taneesha Burgess has lost faith in getting back the money she paid for a safe car to drive her kids around in.

In January, the Matamata resident bought a 2010 Mazda Atenza from an Auckland car dealership through Trade Me called Motor Me.

But the car turned out to be a lemon. The car, with a cracked drive belt, power steering fault, incorrect headlight aim and broken brake calipers was basically a dud, the mother of three says.

* Court slaps heavy fine on a car dealership in Commerce

* Car dealers fined $65k for employment breaches

* Number of 'cowboy' car dealers is rising online**

Anthony Basturkmen also known as 'The Wolf of Church Street' is believed to be the real Brent Smith, according to his victims.

The sour deal led to a Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal case, which she won – but six months on, her car remains parked in a paddock and she hasn't seen a cent of the $9700 she's owed.

This could be a bog standard one-person-ripped-off tale. But, Burgess isn't alone.

The car dealer who took her for a ride has ripped off at least 17 others too.

Stuff contacted other car buyers who had taken Motor Me to the tribunal. These are the stories of those we could track down.

Ben Thomas and Euna Go share a similar story to Burgess.

The couple were sold a noisy, smoking car by Motor Me and ended up spending more on repairs than the car itself had cost.

After they won their tribunal case, Motor Me's owner, Brent Smith, was ordered to pay the Auckland couple nearly $10,000.

They hoped that would be the end of the matter. But it was just the beginning of a long ordeal which led to more questions.

Euna Go and Benjamin Thomas, who were sold a lemon by Motor Me.

Finding Brent Smith

Determined to get their money back, Thomas visited the Motor Me premises on 282 Church St, in the central Auckland suburb of Onehunga, about half a dozen times.

He confronted the Motor Me staff, but there was no sign of the owner Brent Smith.

His partner, Go, then set up a a Facebook page called 'Find Brent Smith' after she found other victims that had won cases against Motor Me, but been unable to get a cent in compensation, and hired a private investigator to find the car dealer.

The private investigator couldn't find out anything about Brent Smith, the couple say. The investigators would not comment on the matter to Stuff.

Will Hayward was yet another customer shortchanged by Motor Me, and is still owed $7000.

Hayward bought his 2006 Suzuki Swift Sport with a 12-month breakdown warranty from Motor Me's insurance company Protecta Finance, but immediately noticed problems.

Hayward, pictured with his fiance Miriam Maslin, who spent the thousands they had saved up for their wedding on their Motor Me car.

He spent thousands on repairs, all the while trying to save up for his wedding.

'The financial stress led to some very sleepless nights. Especially after the disputes tribunal and Motor Me closed down.'

A letter from his mechanic said the car should never have been sold in its condition.

Around March, when Hayward revisited the Motor Me premises, he discovered Motor Me had closed and had been replaced by 282 Cars.

John Joyce was one of the many customers who bought a car from Brent Smith and found out he was Antony Basturkmen.

Brent Smith never appeared at any of the 18 cases laid against him at the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal and none of the people Stuff spoke to had ever seen him, or met him, yet he has been banned from trading cars till 2021 and from selling cars on Trade Me.

A search on Facebook throws up nothing on a New Zealand-based Brent Smith who is also a car dealer.

There was also no Brent Smith listed on Motor Me's website.

And this is possible – to become a registered car trader, passport details and driver's license numbers are not required to verify the person.

Brent Smith could be anyone.

The Wolf of Church Street

But one of his defrauded customers John Joyce, did not let it go, and was determined to solve the mystery surrounding Brent Smith.

After spending hundreds of hours digging for information on the elusive car dealer, Joyce, who was also sold a faulty car by Motor Me and won his case, finally found some leads on who Brent Smith could actually have been.

Determined to get his money back, Thomas visited the Motor Me premises on 282 Church Street in Auckland's central suburb of Onehunga, at least half a dozen times.

Now enters the wolf.

Auckland man Antony Basturkmen calls himself the 'The Wolf of Church Street' according to his LinkedIn page.

And Motor Me's address was 282 Church Street, Onehunga.

While trying to find his way to Brent Smith, Joyce discovered through Motor Me's loan financier, Finance Now, that his car payment had been received by a company called No Reserve Cars.

Basturkmen and his wife, Alexis, are directors of No Reserve Cars.

The pair live in a $2.15 million home in Auckland's affluent seaside suburb St Heliers.

Antony Basturkmen has also had his share of cases at the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal from 2012 to 2015, but with No Reserve Cars. He appeared for two of the three cases, but again, like Brent Smith, he lost them all.

282 Cars has also received negative reviews.

Birth certificates seen by Stuff show Antony Basturkmen changed his name to Brent Smith in March 2015, around the same time as No Reserve Cars' tribunal cases stopped.

Joyce's efforts helped put Basturkmen on the Motor Vehicle Traders Register's banned traders list, too.

In an attempt to legally make Basturkmen liable for his and the other victims' compensation, Joyce attempted to get a court order from the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal this week to prove the name change from Basturkmen to Smith, and make Basturkmen liable for Smith's debts and his costs.

Smith, or Basturkmen, was again a no show.

Benjamin Thomas spent more money repairing the car than actually paying for it.

Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal adjudicator Brett Carter reserved his decision as he was unsure whether he could revisit his previous order banning Basturkmen, and amend it to state Brent Smith was also known as Antony Basturkmen.

Carter did, however, state the proof of the name change provided by Joyce was proof enough that Basturkmen was, in fact, Brent Smith.

Joyce said the hours he had spent gathering evidence had been 'painful'.

But he had now put two-and-two together. The Wolf of Church Street, Antony Basturkmen is Brent Smith.

Have you had a bad experience with second hand car dealers? Get in touch anuja.nadkarni@stuff.co.nz

To become a registered car trader, passport details and driver's license numbers are not required to verify the person.

Despite Smith and Basturkmen having been banned from trading, No Reserve Cars continues to operate.

When Stuff headed to 282 Church Street, Onehunga in search of Brent Smith we found Anthony Basturkmen on the premises of 282 Cars.

Basturkmen, who was enjoying a pie, seemed surprisingly calm when questions were put to him.

We left our business card with him and within hours he rang back and said: 'My lawyer has advised me to not make any comment. So we'll have to leave it at that. You'll have to run with your story.'

Basturkmen declined an interview with Stuff after multiple requests.

Cowboy car dealers

Motor Trade Association dealer services and mediation manager Tony Everett said the bar for entry to the industry was too low.

'There's long been criticism of the entry requirement being too low. After a law change in 2003, it's become a lot easier to enter and quit when something goes wrong,' Everett said.

In September the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment warned the public about a rise in the number of unregistered 'cowboy' car dealers.

In the last 12 months, six traders had been banned from motor vehicle trading due to 'serious breaches' including failing to comply with orders from the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal.

In September Trade Me permanently banned 282 Cars for breaching its terms and conditions.

Burgess said she no longer trusted car dealers.

'It feels like there is no justice system,' she said.

'I have three kids and a full-time job, and still had to make the time to gather evidence to prove my case at the tribunal.

'But there's all these cases where he owes people money and he's gotten away.'

Another couple left out of pocket by Motor Me, Olivia Mills and Adam Fursdon from Blenheim, said the company ruined their car buying experience.

Mills said this experience had scarred her from buying cars.

'This was our first car buying experience and our faith has plummeted.'

Fursdon said it was a shame the responsibility lay with customers when shopping for cars, rather than the traders.

'These dodgy traders should not be allowed to sell at all, but instead customers are expected to protect themselves,' Fursdon said.

After the painstaking efforts of Joyce finding the man named Brent Smith, Will Hayward's wife Miriam Hayward said the couple would be applying for bailiffs to make Basturkmen liable for damages awarded in their tribunal case. Hayward said she wanted this chapter in their life to end in their favour, and soon.

'I'm over the time and effort we've spent on trying to get our money back. Lodging all the paper work, just all the energy we've put into this,' she said.

'Bailiff are the only hope we've got, I'm not confident but cautiously optimistic.'