Auto Shop Owner Fined in Phony Repairs Case

The owner of a Pico Boulevard auto repair shop has pleaded no contest to charges that he swindled a Florida woman who took her car to him for repairs, officials said.

Boris Usherenko, 34, of West Hollywood was ordered by Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau to pay $6,485 in fines and costs after he entered his plea Monday to one count each of making false statements, preparing an unlawful invoice, and failing to maintain records required by the Automotive Repair Act.

Usherenko’s shop, Luxury Auto Center at 5374 W. Pico Blvd., became the target of a state Bureau of Automotive Repair investigation after the agency received a complaint from a woman in Naples, Fla., said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for Los Angeles City Atty. Jim Hahn.

The woman said she took her 1995 Nissan Sentra to Usherenko after being involved in a traffic accident while she was in Southern California visiting friends.

After returning to Florida, the woman discovered that some of the repairs were substandard and that she had been charged for work that was not done, Qualls said.

Auto bureau investigators carried out an undercover operation at Luxury Auto Center in which Usherenko billed $1,939.23 for parts and labor, and a subsequent inspection of the car showed that $1,279.07 of the work had not been done.