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A car dealer has been dealt a nine-month home detention sentence for defrauding the Government-funded Clean Car Discount (CCD) rebate of more than $400,000.

Hamish Ian Gardyne, 35, owner of Dunedin-based car dealership Hamish Vehicle Sales Ltd (HVS Motors), appeared in the Dunedin District Court on Tuesday for sentencing by Judge David Robinson.

He had previously pleaded guilty to using documents for a pecuniary advantage.

Gardyne’s sentence had a starting point of two years and 10 months in prison.

This was reduced to nine months and two weeks home detention, and 200 hours of community work, which also led to the defendant’s name suppression being dropped.

HVS Motors had brick-and-mortar shops in Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Gore and Invercargill at its peak, but now mostly operates online, bar its three remaining stores in Gore, Christchurch and Timaru.

Gardyne applied for rebates on 119 Nissan Leaf vehicles between March and April 2023 under the pretext that they were demonstration cars, the court heard.

HVS Motors' Hamish Gardyne falsely filed Clean Car Discount (CCD) rebates on 119 Nissan Leafs. Photo / HVS Motors

As the rebate for a Nissan Leaf was priced at $3450 per vehicle, the total claim amounted to $410,550.

The CCD rebate, implemented by the Labour-led Government from April 2022 to December 2023, could be claimed during this period by Kiwis if they purchased a qualifying hybrid or electric vehicle.

Rebate claims were restricted for car dealers, who could only apply if a car was registered to themselves and used within company operations for at least three months.

HVS Motors’ high number of rebate claims for demonstrator vehicles turned heads at NZTA, prompting an investigation into their credibility.

Through its inquiries, the NZ Transport Agency learned Gardyne had sold and exported 90 of the Nissan Leaf vehicles to Australia, concluding the car dealer had falsified his rebate claims.

NZTA recovered the one claim paid out to Gardyne, while he retracted all other claims through his lawyer.

“This sentencing was the result of many months of meticulous work,” said NZTA’s national manager of road safety regulations, Brett Aldridge.

“The scale of this fraud is significant, and this sentence should send a strong warning to anyone considering fraudulent activity in the vehicle industry – NZTA will investigate and prosecute when we find breaches.”

Gardyne told Stuff in a statement before sentencing that he was pleading guilty only to protect his young family and business from his getting a prison sentence.

“I do not accept NZTA’s version of events or actions taken against me,” Gardyne said.

“I am now stepping aside from the business leadership to pursue legal avenues that hold NZTA’s conduct to account, supported by extensive evidence of targeted, heavy-handed enforcement to cover for wider regulatory failings.”