A man who fled from Afghanistan and sought refugee status in New Zealand went on to establish a chop shop which received $800,000 worth of stolen cars.

Abdul Ahmadi was the director of a dismantling business that was carrying out legitimate work. But it was also dismantling and exporting stolen cars overseas behind the scenes.

Ahmadi operated dismantling yards in Christchurch and Wellington and, over a period of time, became known as someone who accepted stolen cars.

Some vehicles were stolen and delivered to his yard within hours.

They would quickly be dismantled and shipped overseas.

The practice came to an end when police raided his Christchurch yard and found several stolen vehicles on site.

When authorities eventually completed their investigations, they found that 38 stolen vehicles with a combined value of $800,000 had been through Ahmadi’s yards.

The offending occurred between December 2023 and August 2024.

Today in the Christchurch District Court, defence lawyer Philip McDonnell said Ahmadi had faced numerous challenges as a refugee who fled Afghanistan about 25 years ago.

The lawyer said Ahmadi and his family were forced to leave and were not treated well during their journey through Iran before eventually gaining refugee status in New Zealand.

McDonnell described the offending as reckless.

He asked for a starting point of between three and a half and four years in jail.

With discounts, he said, that would allow for an electronic sentence.

Crown prosecutor Will Taffs asked for a sentence of five and a half to six years’ jail, saying the offending was premeditated.

Taffs said the defence had minimised the offending.

“This is not cultural ignorance; there is no culture in the world where it is acceptable to chop up cars and sell them.”

Taffs added that there was no evidence of remorse.

“This is highly sophisticated offending. It used a business with licences and obligations, [and] yards in two cities which were chopping up vehicles and sending them around the world.

“We are looking at a staggering loss; it doesn’t include the emotional loss, the broader harm to the public with increased insurance premiums.”

Judge Quentin Hix said the fact that the business was legitimate was not a mitigating factor.

He said several victims had described how they had been affected emotionally by the thefts.

Judge Hix took a starting point of five years in prison.

He said there was difficulty making a connection with Ahmadi‘s cultural background and the offending, and he had made a reparation offer which could not be met.

There was also difficulty in accepting Ahmadi‘s claims of remorse, he said.

Judge Hix said he was prepared to give some consideration, given the amount of mana Ahmadi had lost.

The judge gave Ahmadi a 35% discount before sentencing him to prison for three years and three months.

McDonnell said his client would appeal the sentence.

Ahmadi’s wife burst into tears after the sentencing.

Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the past 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.