Child protection worker Mohammad Aref Ghaffari pleads guilty to used-car fraud, faces maximum $10,000 fine

A child protection worker who made $26,000 by wiping almost 400,000km off two used cars has blamed his crimes on his attention span.

Mohammad Aref Ghaffari survived war in Afghanistan, endured the Woomera Detention Centre and graduated from the NSW Police Academy before finding his true calling in life.

Passionate about juvenile justice, he earned a masters degree in the field and moved to Adelaide in 2016 to work for the Department for Child Protection.

Though praised for his exemplary work and character, Ghaffari’s fall from grace was imminent due to his side hustle – buying and reselling used cars.

In 2021, Ghaffari wiped almost 400,000km from the odometers of two Toyotas and sold them off, netting a cool $26,000 in profit.

This week his lawyer, Aaron Almeida, told Adelaide Magistrates Court there might be a simple explanation why a “man of otherwise impeccable character” duped consumers.

Mohammad Aref Ghaffari outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Roy VanDerVegt

“It seems that, at the time, my client was diagnosed with ADHD, which has traits of carelessness and impulsivity,” he said.

“That may have, perhaps, led to the offending before this court.”

Ghaffari, 34, now of Queensland, pleaded guilty to two counts of interfering with a second-hand vehicle’s odometer and two counts of dishonest dealing with documents.

The offences carry a maximum $10,000 fine and a 10-year prison term.

In 2021, he paid $1000 for a 2005 Sportivo with 270,662km on the clock and gave it to his sister-in-law to drive.

When she gave it back, uncomfortable behind the wheel of a manual, he wound its odometer back to 121,906 and sold it for $6000.

Having received a complaint, officers from Consumer and Business Services investigated – and discovered an earlier sale by Ghaffari even dodgier.

The Toyota Sportiva sold, by Ghaffari, for $6000 after he wiped more than 121,000km off his odometer reading. Picture: Attorney-General's Department

He had paid $4250 for a 2008 Prado that had done 387,350km, turned it into a 166,503km four-wheel drive and sold it for $25,000.

CBS staff also found each vehicle had come with a log book – Ghaffari had purchased the documents separately and doctored them to match his mechanical alterations.

This week, prosecutors asked the court to impose penalties that would deter Ghaffari from future offending, saying he had derived a “significant” benefit from his conduct.

Mr Almeida, however, asked the court to show mercy.

“Recording a conviction would spoil his re-entry into (the child protection) industry which is, really, the only career he knows,” he said.

“This has of course happened through his own choices and his own fault, but we invite the court to give him the benefit of a second chance.”

Auxiliary Magistrate Clive Kitchen will sentence Ghaffari in two weeks’ time.