Denmark’s TV program Kontant that focuses on consumer issues reported in April
that two Danish businessmen Morten Flendt and Oyvind Hjulmand who are residents
in Estonia are behind Internet websites that in Denmark and Italy enable users to
assess their second-hand cars seemingly for free, but later charge the user EUR
60, writes Äripäev.
One of the websites in question is based in Italy and is available at auto-prezzo.com. It offers users to get a price estimate on their second-hand cars and asks them to fill out a questionnaire which includes the car registration number.
As expected, the fact that the service is not free for users, but charges a fee from them is well hidden. It's a lucrative business since in eight months, the websites earned 600,000 euros from customers. The company identifies and bills the service user by the car registration number that the user submits. According to Italian authorities, the service is owned by a website that belongs to a Danish businessman Morten Flendt.
While Flendt is relatively unknown in Estonia, his business partner Oyvind Hjulmand made headlines in 2008 when he tried to manipulate the Tallinn stock market in order to improve his changes in the stock game Börsihai organized by investment bank LHV. He was later fined 9,000 kroons for the offense.
A journalist for Kontant said that when he called and wished to speak to the owners of the website he was asked to contact Flendt and Hjulmand.
Toomas Hõbemägi
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