A Russian-born businessman and his wife based on Queensland’s gold coast have been told they face jail unless they repay tourists they “ripped off” through their outback car rental company, Australian 4WD Hire.
Key points:
- Former company controllers Vitali Roesch and Maryna Kosukhina have 21 days to repay customers
- They are liable to imprisonment or other punishment if they fail to do so
- The court found their hire company lied to customers and its contracts were declared void
A damning Federal Court judgment has found their Australian 4WD Hire business systematically lied to customers and used unfair contracts to demand they pay the full costs of repairing or replacing damaged vehicles, even if there was no damage.
Ruling on a lawsuit by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Justice Darren Jackson cancelled those contracts and fined parent company Smart Corporation $870,000 for misleading or deceptive conduct.
It is unclear whether that fine will be clawed out of liquidation-customers-owed-thousands/11934270″ data-component=”Link” data-uri=”coremedia://article/11934270″>the company because it is now in liquidation.
Vitali Roesch in his office on the Gold Coast in 2012 (https://ok.ru — Vitali Roesch)
But its former controllers — businessman Vitali Roesch and his wife Maryna Kosukhina — have been given 21 days to…