Queensland used car dealer Mezin Hadad attacks ACA reporter and crew after requesting interview to clear his name

A dodgy car dealer who has been banned from the industry for life has been caught on camera attacking an A Current Affair news crew after being accused of operating from another car yard.

Mezin Hadad has been permanently banned from holding a car dealer license in Queensland and, along with his company Best Buy Auto Group Pty Ltd, was fined a total of $127,000.

He was banned after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) took disciplinary action against the car dealer and his company at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

Mr. Hadad was found to have provided false or misleading information to consumers, harassed and coerced customers, and failed to repair consumers’ defective used cars under warranty.

He also failed to provide customers with important documents and contracts, such as a declaration of ownership.

The Channel Nine program initially featured a story about Mr Hadad’s shabby affairs where he refused to speak, but after watching the program he emailed to say he was willing to do an interview at any time and called reporter Reece D’Alessandro a “loser.”

But things got physical when the TV crew turned up at Fair Dinkum Autos in Clontarf, northeast of Brisbane.

Mr. Hadad refused to answer any questions and instead threw folders and documents at the reporter.

He also repeatedly pushed D’Alessandro and his team and even punched the cameraman.

As D’Alessandro was wrapping up the segment, Mr. Hadad poured a can of V energy drink over his head.

The confrontation escalated after D’Alessandro asked Mr. Hadad why he was at the dealership if he had been banned from the industry.

A spokesperson for the Clontarf car yard told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Hadad was not an employee but sometimes visited because his family ran the business.

“It’s his family’s business. He comes here and waters the plants and chats with people. He doesn’t work here and he doesn’t get paid,” she said.

A scuffle immediately broke out when the Channel Nine crew arrived, with Mr Hadad refusing to be filmed and repeatedly shoving the cameraman.

“You’re not going to broadcast it, you’re fucking eating,” he told the reporter.

“You’re a piece of shit, you’re a grub, and you’re not going to broadcast it because you’re a liar, you’re only going to broadcast what you want to broadcast.”

Mr. Hadad then asked to sit down and talk, but only when the cameras were not rolling.

He shoved the cameraman again and the pair became involved in a fight in which Mr. Hadad appeared to throw his fist into the other man’s face.

While the reporter repeatedly asked Mr. Hadad if he was breaking the law, he refused to answer and instead suggested they sit down and talk.

When D’Alessandro and Mr. Hadad finally sat down for the interview, it lasted a matter of seconds.

“Are you the most unreliable used car dealer in Australia?” the ACA reporter asked, to which Mr. Hadad immediately denied that he was.

‘No, I have been a car dealer for 34 years. If I was, how would I have been a car dealer for 34 years? Answer that!’ he said.

Mr Hadad then grabbed the documents on his desk and threw them at D’Alessandro’s head, before pushing him out of the room and into a walkway.

Hadad chased the TV crew out of the dealership while throwing a can of energy drink on the journalist’s head.

He was banned from the Queensland car industry in January this year after an investigation found he and his company had committed multiple breaches of the Motor Dealers Act and Australian Consumer Law.

Mr Hadad was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $67,607 to affected customers, while his company Best Buy Auto was fined $50,000.

He was subjected to a Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing, the findings of which were announced in December last year.

He claimed the breakdown of his marriage to his wife had been ’emotionally and financially draining’.

He also claimed he attempted suicide five times between 2018 and 2021 and had been admitted to a mental health unit in Queensland.

The tribunal said: ‘Mr Hadad has not presented any medical or other evidence to support these allegations.’

“Mr. Hadad stated that in the span of two years he literally went from a tycoon to a mental health patient trying to take his life, that his entire life was in shambles and that he had lost his home after the mortgage went into possession had been taken,” the document read.

The car dealer was found not to be suitable for holding a driver’s license.

Mr. Hadad had previously shared a video of himself on YouTube in 2019, showing off his luxury yacht and what appears to be a novelty gun.

It is understood that queries regarding Mr Hadad’s presence at the car yard were referred to him by Fair Dinkum Autos, but no response was received.