Hi all,
My brother bought a second hand boat.
He paid for the insurance and the rego fee - however, he didn't realise that he had only paid for the trailer rego fee and not the actual boat rego - which the previous owner did not send him.
The Fisheries guy checked his boat and said it will be ok if he sent him some documents - my brother did what he asked and then still received a fine in the mail!
So he asked for a review of the fine - which was rejected.
Then he told them to take him to court, expecting it to be a civil matter like a speeding fine.
He then received notification that it was now a CRIMINAL matter, he had to go to court against the government lawyers, and if he wanted to end it he could plead guilty and pay a few extra fines etc.
My questions are:
Why is this a criminal matter and not a simple civil matter?
If he pleads guilty, they said it would "all go away". I suspect this might not be accurate.
Would he then have a criminal record? Would this affect any other factors, such as his job or loans etc?
Thanks so much for you help!
My brother bought a second hand boat.
He paid for the insurance and the rego fee - however, he didn't realise that he had only paid for the trailer rego fee and not the actual boat rego - which the previous owner did not send him.
The Fisheries guy checked his boat and said it will be ok if he sent him some documents - my brother did what he asked and then still received a fine in the mail!
So he asked for a review of the fine - which was rejected.
Then he told them to take him to court, expecting it to be a civil matter like a speeding fine.
He then received notification that it was now a CRIMINAL matter, he had to go to court against the government lawyers, and if he wanted to end it he could plead guilty and pay a few extra fines etc.
My questions are:
Why is this a criminal matter and not a simple civil matter?
If he pleads guilty, they said it would "all go away". I suspect this might not be accurate.
Would he then have a criminal record? Would this affect any other factors, such as his job or loans etc?
Thanks so much for you help!