A Dapto tradie who failed to declare a $50,000 finance loan on his Toyota Hilux ute when trading it in for a newer model has been convicted of a deceptive conduct charge.
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Police documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court said Ehrin Joel Coupe attended Illawarra Toyota at Albion Park on May 20 two years ago looking to upgrade his 2015 Toyota Hilux.
He purchased a 2016 model, worth $63,000, advising the dealer he intended to “trade-in” his old vehicle to help reduce the price.
When Coupe returned to the dealer a month later to pick up the new car, he signed a ‘new vehicle purchase contract’ confirming the 2015 vehicle was “free of all encumbrances”.
The dealership on-sold the 2015 model in October that year, however the new owner contacted Illawarra Toyota within months saying the Commonwealth Bank was about to repossess the vehicle due to an outstanding loan.
An investigation revealed Coupe had taken out a $58,000 finance loan on the original Hilux in May 2015.
The loan consisted of $49,000 in principal, with $9,000 interest, to be split over 60 monthly payments of almost $700, with a final payment figure of $17,000.
Illawarra Toyota confirmed to police that Coupe had not disclosed the outstanding loan to them when he signed the contract to buy the 2016 Hilux.
“Had Illawarra Toyota known of the encumbrance then they would never have accepted and approved the contract between themselves and the accused and sold him a new vehicle,” detectives said in an agreed set of facts tendered to the court.
Both vehicles were registered to Coupe under the name of his company, United Constructions 1 Pty Ltd.
The 42-year-old was charged with a single count of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, to which he pleaded guilty.
Coupe’s lawyer told the court his client made between $1,000 and $1,200 a week in his flooring business, which he’d started up since relocating to Queensland.
He submitted Coupe’s deception had not been a very sophisticated one - “it was almost inevitable it was going to be discovered” - and that the sum had not been a particularly large one and had been repaid in full.
Magistrate Robert Walker convicted Coupe of the charge and handed him a $5,000 fine.
