Body Shop Owner Gets 45 Days in Jail

A Northridge auto body shop owner has been sentenced to 45 days in jail and ordered to repay two customers he overcharged.

Mehdi Roozbanian, 46, of Granada Hills, had pleaded guilty to preparing a false insurance claim and failing to give a written estimate for repairs.

On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan sentenced him to jail and three years probation for double charging clients at Sherman Auto Body Inc. Roozbanian was ordered to pay $1,776 to two customers.

City attorney spokesman Mike Qualls said a Chatsworth man and a North Hollywood woman had complained that Roozbanian overcharged them for repair work that was never completed. The state’s Bureau of Automotive Repair investigated and found that Sherman Auto Body had been paid by insurance companies for the same unfinished work.

As a condition of the probation, Roozbanian may not own or work at an auto shop that is not licensed with the Bureau of Automotive Repair. He closed his shop after charges were filed, Qualls said.