> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Fraud hearing trudges forward - URL: https://www.smdp.com/fraud-hearing-trudges-forward/ - Published: 2006-03-15T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T17:21:38.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Crime, Downtown, #archive-import *Preliminary hearing likely to continue through Friday* DOWNTOWN LA — Attorneys on Tuesday questioned a second investigator in the case against six former Honda of Santa Monica employees who allegedly bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from car buyers. Ali Asghar Hussain, Hamid Reza Khaki, Ahtamet Uersunthornwattana,Yaprem Zohrab Yaralian, Yaser Alkasem and Thomas Holterhoff all face felony counts related to the overcharging of customers, according to the District Attorney’s office. The alleged scam, which is said to have occurred from 2000 to 2002, primarily involved finance managers tacking on charges of “theft etch” to customers’ contracts without their knowledge. Theft etch marks a vehicle’s parts with traceable numbers in the event of a theft. Tuesday’s portion of the preliminary hearing focused on testimony from Mary Brooks, a county consumer affairs investigator who met with James Alexandre, the whistleblower on the Honda case. Alexandre worked as general manager at Honda of Santa Monica for three months from February to April of 2002, after which he was terminated. Alexandre, who argued he was wrongfully terminated, settled with his former employer in an arbitration hearing. He wrote a letter to the DA’s office detailing allegations of the abuses taking place at Honda. The letter was received July 9, 2002\. The next day, the investigation was launched. According to Brooks, Alexandre claimed he received several complaints of overcharges within the dealership’s finance department. Some of the complaints included “packing,” whereby after-market products were being added onto sales contracts without buyers’ permission. Alexandre claimed to have discovered a packing “glitch” operating within Honda’s computer system that he claimed could be traced to Hussain’s home computer. According to the DA’s Office, sales representatives at Honda of Santa Monica also attached overcharges and fake charges for LoJack systems, and what was called a “California tire fee/doc fee,” “Touch of Class” and “tint.” Wheel locks also were cited as part of the alleged scam. On Oct. 7, 2002, Alexandre contacted Brooks and told her he had met with Holterhoff, his predecessor, at a hotel near LAX the previous month. At that meeting, Holterhoff allegedly admitted to Alexandre illegal financial practices were occurring at Honda of Santa Monica while he was general manager there. According to Brooks’ testimony, Holterhoff told Alexandre he wanted to address the problem “slowly” because “he didn’t want to make a big deal of it.” Alexandre’s motivation for informing authorities about the bilking scheme was that “huge corporations indicate huge corruption indicates huge profits,” Brooks told the court. According to her testimony, customers were being mischarged, overcharged and flat-out lied to about charges that had been added to their contracts that they supposedly hadn’t requested or specifically indicated they didn’t want. On Oct. 8, 2002, the DA’s office invited Holterhoff to meet and discuss Alexandre’s claims. According to testimony, Holterhoff came of his own volition. He told Brooks and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Jeff McGrath, a prosecutor for the case, that adding charges to contracts did occur at Honda of Santa Monica while he was general manager there. Holterhoff allegedly claimed they were practices that had been going on prior to his assuming his responsibilities and he “allowed them to continue,” Brooks told the court. Holterhoff’s attorney, John Passanate, indicated during his cross-examination of Brooks that his client oversaw several aspects of the dealership that went beyond the finance and sales departments. As a result, Holterhoff dealt with customer complaints regarding sales only when those complaints were presented to him by those customers. Likewise, none of the customers who complained to Brooks during her investigation complained to Holterhoff about their dissatisfaction around the time of their purchase. More than $500,000 of theft etch was sold at Honda of Santa Monica by its six fired employees, according to the DA’s office. Under a recent settlement, an estimated 1,500 customers who were ripped off can expect to be reimbursed in the next few months by Kramer Motors Inc., the parent company of Honda of Santa Monica. The civil complaint’s settlement, which was signed by a judge on Feb. 8, is separate from the criminal cases against the six defendants. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Dana Aratani said the reimbursements range from $100 to $1,000, with the average claim being $400\. It’s estimated that Kramer Motors will pay back about $829,000 in reimbursements. Testimony on Wednesday is expected to include more cross-examination of witnesses. The preliminary hearing is expected to continue until Friday and possibly into next week. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 15, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031506.pdf?ref=smdp.com)