Car wrecker’s luxury assets seized amid probe into alleged stolen car exports

Saturday, 15 February 2025

A car wrecker who owns a $350,000 Mercedes and $1.3 million home has had some of his assets seized amid allegations that he received half a million dollars worth of stolen cars to dismantle and export them overseas.

Abdul Karim Alizadah, 39, who also goes by the surname Ahmadi, is the director of Lions Auto Dismantlers in Woolston, Christchurch. The yard was raided by investigators in September and a raft of stolen vehicles were allegedly found on site.

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Alizadah was arrested. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of receiving stolen property and breaching the Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 2004. He maintains his innocence, saying he kept records and did not know the cars were stolen.

The joint operation between several arms of police and Customs, dubbed Operation Mane, uncovered an Upper Hutt car wrecking yard with links to Alizadah that was allegedly receiving stolen cars as well.

Police allege the yards were fuelling a rise in car thefts in both of their districts. Investigators believed many of the vehicles, used for commercial purposes, were being dismantled and the parts exported and sold overseas.

Alizadah is accused of receiving more than $500,000 worth of stolen vehicles between December 2023 and March 2024, according to court documents. He also allegedly failed to properly retain documents for the vehicles and keep a record as required.

He denies all of these allegations.

At the High Court in Christchurch this week, police successfully applied for a with-notice restraining order over a vehicle, real estate, shares, cash, jewellery and watches belonging to Alizadah and four other respondents.

Justice Jonathan Eaton said he was satisfied on reasonable grounds that the property was tainted “from significant criminal activity”.

The Press can reveal these details for the first time after a Ministry of Justice registrar confirmed Alizadah no longer had name suppression.

He denies the charges, elected trial by jury and has a case review at the Christchurch District Court in March.

Lions Auto Dismantlers was closed when The Press visited on Tuesday. The company, of which Alizadah is the sole director, has a 2023 Mercedes-AMG G63 registered to it.

The luxury SUV with the registration plate ALIZDA was parked in the driveway of Alizadah’s Wigram home, which itself has a rateable value of $1.3m. The latest model of the car sells for more than $350,000.

Two relatives of Alizadah, a man and woman, answered the door of the home and said he was not there. The man threatened and filmed this journalist.

“We’ve got people as well,” he said.

The jewellery that was seized was a wedding gift for Alizadah’s wife, the man said. “I’m not sure why the cops have taken it.”

The allegations made by police were false and the family would fight them. “Until he’s proven guilty, you can’t really predict and say what’s right and what’s wrong.”

The man confirmed the Mercedes was restrained by police, but had since been returned to the family because it was being paid for by finance. “We’re using it everyday. We can use it, we can do whatever the f… we want with it … they didn’t have proof of [it] being paid for by cash.

“If I see anything up on media, it won’t be good. I’ve got your photo as well… The house and the car and the jewellery has nothing to do with this,” he said.

The man threatened The Press with legal action if it ran this story.

Alizadah answered his phone on Thursday after numerous calls. Two men on the other end of the phone identified themselves as him.

They said they did not recognise any of the cars were stolen when they received them.

“We checked them, they weren’t stolen … after a week someone said it was stolen.”

The men threatened this journalist with legal action. “We’ll be coming after you,” one said. He said this journalist was trespassed from visiting them, then hung up.

Another of Alizadah’s companies, Alizadah Property Investments Limited, owns the land where Lions Auto Dismantlers and the Upper Hutt wreckers yard are based. The combined rateable value of those properties is more than $2.5m.

The stolen vehicles allegedly received by Alizadah were almost all exclusively Toyota models including three Land Cruiser VX 300s worth $133,000 each, according to court documents.

Others included Toyota Surfs, Hiluxes, Hiaces, Prados, and one Nissan Navara.

“This is a shot across the bow of the second-hand industry,” Detective Senior Sergeant Sarah Graham said at the time of the arrests.

Investigations into a rise in car thefts led them to the wreckers yards, she said. Investigators alleged multiple stolen cars were bought by the yards at grossly undervalued rates.

Detective Inspector Haley Ryan, of Wellington, said police strongly suspected the majority of vehicles not recovered were being dismantled and exported overseas.

“Stolen commercial vehicles have much more value to the receiver being dismantled and sold for parts versus them being rebirthed and sold,” Ryan said. “We would be very naive to believe that [these] businesses are the only car wrecking businesses to be involved in such illegal activities.”

Both officers did not rule out further arrests and said police were committed to following leads in New Zealand and overseas. “If you break the law, we will track you down and work across districts and agencies to do it.”

The Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 allows police to apply to the courts to restrain property believed to be the proceeds of crime. This can be a temporary measure and be done while a criminal case is still ongoing. Forfeiture of the property may occur as part of a sentencing and acts as a permanent confiscation.