Ellite Carriages in Harlow, Essex had its application discarded on the grounds that Marlon Gordon, a director of the company, was convicted on 31 October 2002 of conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
Christine Wade, director of consumer regulation enforcement, said: “Mr Gordon has been convicted of taking part in a conspiracy to handle stolen goods. As a result of this he is not suitable to provide a credit service to consumers.”
The consumer watchdog also rebuffed a used car dealer in Northumberland after it was revealed that he had committed a violent offence back in 2003.
Nicholas David Fennell had his application refused on the basis that he had been convicted of unlawful wounding on 18 March 2003. The adjudicator ruled this had left Fennel unfit to hold a licence.
Fennell's application was the fourth one from the motor trade within a week to be rejected by the OFT. A spokeswoman said: “This is not an abnormal amount, but the OFT does remain committed to halting dealers deemed unfit to engage in supplying credit.”
She highlighted the case of
convicted second-hand car dealer Christopher Fulke-Greville, who was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment earlier this year after he continued to trade
illegally.
“We want traders to know that we will go to court to back up the enforcers and take consumer protection issues seriously.”