The Investigators: Used car business sold for $1.1M after owner charged with wife's murder

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Import One on Airline Hwy has been sold for over $1 million after being shutdown since October.

North American Automotive Group, a Louisiana company, bought the used car lot for $1,100,000 on December 1. The company already has a lot on Airline Hwy in Gonzales.

It was shut down permanently after a hearing before the Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission (LUMVC) on October 19.

Import One was previously owned by Hamid Ghassemi, who is is prison charged with the first degree murder of his ex-wife Taherah. Police said he hired three men to kill his ex-wife after a bitter divorce settlement. In September, he was indicted on first-degree murder, and District Attorney Hillar Moore now wants to pursue the death penalty.

On September 24, the commission, which regulates all used car lots and dealerships across the state, issued a temporary cease and desist for Import One after receiving several complaints from customers who said they have not received their titles or registrations.

In October's hearing before the commission, Ghassemi's current wife Gloria Acevedo testified and asked the board to let them go back in business to try to sell the remaining vehicles on the lot to wholesalers and sell the building so they can repay their bank. But she said they did want to keep their license.

However, the commission voted unanimously to shut down Import One permanently.

In Import One's 26 years of business, the commission said they only received 14 complaints against the used car dealership in those 26 years. However, since June 2015, they have received several complaints about the dealership.

Even though the commission permanently shut down Import One, they added that since Acevedo plans to keep her license she can come back to the commission and ask for approval to open another business.

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