A Current Affair interview erupts into wild fight in alarming footage
Channel 9’s show aired its ‘shortest interview ever’ after tensions exploded into a full-blown physical altercation.
An interview on A Current Affair broke out into a wild physical fight during a shocking interview that quickly descended into chaos.
The Channel 9 show featured a dodgy car dealer whose customers have claimed is selling “more lemons than roadworthy checks”.
The man in question, Mezin Hadad, reached out to the show personally to clear his name after angry former customers shared their stories with the program earlier this month.
However, things quickly started to spiral out of control at Fair Dinkum Autos in Moreton Bay, north of Brisbane, during a heated exchange with ACA reporter Reece D’Alessandro.
D’Alessandro is initially invited into Hadad’s office only for the car salesman to start ranting at him before throwing paperwork at his head.
“If I was a dodgy car dealer, would I have been a car dealer for 34 years? Answer that! Answer that question!” Hadad yells.
“You’re a piece of s---, you’re a grub, because you’re not going to air it.
“You’re a liar because you’re only going to air what you want to air.”
Footage also shows the ACA camera team subjected to a physical attack outside the garage.
“That’s enough, that’s enough! Let go of the equipment,” yelled the interviewer as the car salesman continued to thrash out at the team.
Hadad was then filmed grabbing hold of the camera and menacingly glaring at the operator as the presenter desperately tried to calm him down.
“As soon as you let go of the equipment we can talk,” said the presenter in an attempt to stop Hadad from becoming more aggressive.
ACA had previously aired a story detailing how Hadad allegedly posed as an international businessman, posting pictures of himself surrounded by super cars and super yachts.
However, as he doesn’t actually hold a Queensland motor dealer’s licence and is banned from the industry for life after the Office of Fair Trading took him to task for harassing and intimidating customers.
Carolyn Morgan from the Office of Fair Trading told the show: “He received a lifetime ban for holding a motor dealer’s licence.
“If he was even working for somebody else who does have a licence, he still doesn’t have a licence and he cannot act in that capacity.”
Despite the ban, the show claims that Hadad has still been operating.
The show previously featured former customer Sienna Stephens who borrowed $5000 from her dad to purchase a car from Hadad after moving from Tasmania to Queensland to start her first job as a nurse.
“He said the car will be fully serviced, we will fix the paint job, the car will be beautiful,” she told ACA.
However, Stephens noticed that she had never received the roadworthy certificate Hadad promised after spotting numerous issues with the vehicle.
When Stephens and her partner confronted Hadad with their concerns, she claimed he became aggressive toward them both.
“Once he feels questioned then his demeanour switches immediately and he can be quite scary,” Stephens alleged.
“He targets people like me, like the young people, the people that don’t know anything about cars, the people in a tough spot.”
“(He is) clearly a bully and just wanting to threaten and assert his power and hope that you’ll go away.”
More customers have since come forward after the original episode aired to complain about Hadad.
Nathaniel Cook he bought a Mercedes Benz from Hadad for $9000 but it only travelled only four hours before it broke down.
It was towed to Cook’s mum’s house where it has been ever since.
According to Cook it is leaking oil and needs a new clutch but Hadad has blocked Cook’s number.
“He just needs to have some sort of punishment for this,” Cook said.
Last year the Office of Fair Trading ordered Hadad and his company to pay $127,000 in fines and compensation for breaches including harassment and coercion of customers. He was also permanently banned from holding a dealer’s licence in Queensland.
ACA has revealed that the Office of Fair Trading had confirmed to the show that it’s now investigating as a result of the numerous complaints from angry customers.