Reseda : Shop Owner Accused of Illegal Smog Checks

A Reseda auto repair shop owner has been charged with using a former employee’s smog-check technician license to issue phony emission-control certificates, authorities said.

Gassan Munib Jurdi, 45, of Panorama City is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 13, Los Angeles City Atty. Jim Hahn said.

Hahn said the matter came to light after the former employee reported to the Bureau of Automotive Repair that he no longer worked at the shop owned by Jurdi, and asked the state to remove his access code from the shop’s emission-check analyzer. Hahn said licensed smog technicians routinely do that when they quit a job.

But when officials of the agency went to the shop to remove the access code, they found Jurdi conducting a smog-check inspection on a vehicle, Deputy City Atty. P. Greg Parham said. Records at the shop showed that Jurdi had conducted 10 phony inspections that morning, he said.

Jurdi was charged with unauthorized use of a computer and working as an unlicensed smog technician, authorities said.