Dodgy car dealer cheated his friends out of thousands

THIS is dodgy Homebush car dealer Ousama Najjar who received a two-year suspended prison sentence for fraud and larceny.

CATHIE had known Ousama Najjar for seven years.

“Mimz” would tell her about his family problems over a drink after work. They were mates. Then, when she was heavily pregnant, he robbed her of $14,000.

“People have to know about this,” Cathie, who asked that I not use her surname, said.

She is one of at least six victims of the dodgy Homebush car dealer, who last month received a two-year suspended prison sentence for fraud and larceny.

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Parramatta Local Court heard that, in July 2012, Najjar of now-defunct Blue Brothers Autos, convinced her to sell her 1999 Honda S2000. He said he could get a minimum $17,000, with the sweetener that he wouldn’t take any commission.

“He said ‘I’ll look after you’,” Cathie recalled.

Days later she photographed her car on the Parramatta Rd lot for sale at $18,999. At the start of September, Najjar sold the Honda for $14,000.

At the end of October, ­Cathie went to Blue Brothers and Najjar made out a cheque for $10,000, asking her not to deposit it for a few weeks. In mid December, ­Cathie tried to bank the cheque. It bounced. She has never received a cent.

Also in 2012, a school friend of Najjar’s trying to sell a 2007 BMW 325i visited Blues Brothers. The friend was promised $30,000 if the car sold. Najjar sold the car for $20,000. The friend has received nothing.

Najjar didn’t just rip off friends. The court heard he would have an associate cold-call people struggling to sell on carsales.com.au.

The owners of an Earlwood painting and decorating business were promised $33,000 for a 2006 Commodore. Najjar sold it for $26,500 but the owners got nothing.

He also dudded owners of a 1999 Honda Prelude, a Nissan Pathfinder and a 2003 Honda Accord. He also sold a 2007 Porsche Cayenne to two different people, earning him the fraud conviction.

Fair Trading Minister Matthew Mason-Cox said: “Consumers were seriously exploited by Mr Najjar’s fraudulent activities.

“They placed their trust in him and suffered as a result. Unscrupulous motor dealers will be held to account if they seek to flout the law.”

FAMILY FIGHTS ON FOR FAIRNESS

THE family who paid for paradise only to get a parking lot are resolute in their pursuit of fairness.

The Bowrings gave Arash Tavakoli’s company a $37,500 deposit on a ground-floor unit two years ago. But he didn’t build it. Or tell them. They don’t think it’s reasonable they should merely have their deposit returned with interest.

Nor will they entertain the offer to buy a higher unit in the Lane Cove complex because it’s unsafe for their two boys. They say they are being asked to pay an extra $230,000. Yesterday Mr Tavakoli did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyers said last week their client denies “Mr and Mrs Bowring’s account of events, including the price differential”.