Hearing on Car Dealership Opens

A hearing began Tuesday on an array of consumer fraud allegations leveled by the state Department of Motor Vehicles against a West Covina car dealership.

The DMV has accused West Covina Mitsubishi of assessing illegal charges and fees to customers, using misleading and false advertising, preparing fraudulent credit applications, lying to customers and making late payments on required state fees.

The case is being heard in Los Angeles by state Administrative Law Judge Robert A. Neher, who will rule on the DMV’s request to revoke or suspend the dealership’s sales license.

The dealership, owned by Ziad Alhassen, was Mitsubishi’s top retail dealer in the nation in 1987, with sales of 4,304 cars, and has consistently ranked in the top five, according to Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America.

Attorneys for Alhassen, one of West Covina’s most successful businessmen, have denied the allegations.

Alan Mateer, the chief DMV counsel, predicted that the hearing, in which scores of witnesses have been subpoenaed, will last until the first week in March.