The ‘wolf’ strikes again
Victims of a notorious car dealer calling himself the ‘‘Wolf of Church Street’’ are fuming over the banned trader being able to sell cars on Facebook’s Marketplace platform.
Antony Basturkmen, who has legally changed his name to Brent Smith but still goes by Basturkmen, was the owner of a defunct Auckland car dealership called Motor Me, which was taken to the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal at least 18 times.
Motor Me was issued a warning by the Commerce Commission in January last year for misleading consumers, and later in the year was banned from trading by Trading Standards, a government agency.
Trade Me has also banned Smith from trading on its website.
Euna Go and her partner, Ben Thomas, were sold a noisy, smoking car by Smith. Go said she was fuming when she saw he was still selling cars on Facebook.
‘‘It’s just so frustrating; I’m so angry he’s still selling cars. He has no remorse,’’ Go said.
It appears Smith listed three cars on Facebook’s Marketplace last week using his personal Facebook account under the name Antony Basturkmen.
He was selling a 1996 Nissan Terrano diesel car for $2950, a 1992 Toyota Estima for $1950 and a 1999 Toyota Vitz Tidy for $1895.
Smith has been banned from selling cars until 2021, according to the Motor Vehicle Traders Register.
Go and several other victims tried to get their money back from Smith but they have had to jump through several hoops, as he failed to appear at tribunal hearings.
Smith and his wife, Alexis, are directors of No Reserve Cars, which traded as Motor Me.
The pair live in a $2.15 million home in the affluent, seaside Auckland suburb of St Heliers.
Smith’s No Reserve Cars dealership has also had a number of cases heard at the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal between 2012 and 2015. He appeared for two of the three cases, but lost them all.
Another couple left out of pocket by Motor Me, Olivia Mills and Adam Fursdon from Blenheim, said the company caused them to lose confidence in car dealers.
‘‘This was our first car-buying experience and our faith has plummeted.’’
Mills has asked Facebook groups to remove car for sale listings posted by Smith under the name Antony Basturkmen.
Mills said she could not believe he was still being allowed to sell cars despite being banned and having cost numerous people thousands of dollars.
‘‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. He just doesn’t care. It’s just so frustrating.’’
Go is waiting for Smith to appear at the Auckland District Court in May for a financial assessment hearing.
She said if Smith did not appear this time she could apply for the judge to issue an arrest warrant.
‘‘It’s not even about the money any more – I just want to stop him from doing this to others.’’
Trading Standards and Facebook have been approached for comment.