The B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority has banned a Richmond man from selling vehicles for life after he admitted to rolling back odometers.
Arthur Tong had his salesperson licence stripped in May and has been banned from registering as a motor dealer or being licensed in any capacity under the Motor Dealer Act. He’s also been ordered not to have any affiliation with vehicle dealers in B.C.
“He had to cheat to compete,” said Doug Longhurst with the B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority. “In some cases, 100,000 km were taken off the odometer.”
Tong also did business under the names Delta Well and New Star Motors. The B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority says Tong also misrepresented himself by posing as a private seller when posting ads on Craigslist.
Salt Spring Island resident Alan Caplan bought a 2007 Toyota Matrix from Tong in September 2015. At the time, it had an odometer reading of more than 83,000 km, but the B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority said it actually had more than 190,000 km on it.
“It’s a lie. It’s a deceit,” said Caplan. “You’re not getting what you’re being told you’re getting.”
Caplan was eventually reimbursed by Tong after he was informed by the B.C. Motor Vehicle Sales Authority that the odometer had likely been rolled back.
Tong admitted to rolling back odometers on 39 vehicles, which was about 85 per cent of the cars he sold in a year.
“It can be done unfortunately very easily with a tool, an electronic tool,” said Longhurst.
The decision from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles found that Tong was “not apologetic and compensated consumers only after being caught.” He also found there was “no indication of remorse or any evidence of rehabilitation or insight into the impact of his actions.”
The vehicles were sold to people all over the Lower Mainland, including Abbotsford, Richmond, Delta and Surrey.
Tong bought back four of the vehicles and compensated 26 other customers out of pocket over the lost value of their vehicles because of the higher mileage. All the vehicles with rolled back odometers have now been flagged as having been tampered with.
The B.C. Vehicle Sales Authority says that a compensation fund is available to consumers if dishonest dealers refuse to reimburse buyers.
Tong has not been charged with a crime, but the case has been handed over to the RCMP.
Richmond RCMP say they are not able to confirm if any investigations into this matter are active but said someone caught rolling back odometers could face charges of fraud over or under $5,000.
Tuesday on CTV News at 6: A McLaughlin On Your Side investigation reveals Tong is still selling cars. What happens when our crew goes undercover.