Category Archives: litigation

Another Lawsuit Filed against Ford EcoBoost V6 Engines

The suit mirrors one filed in last February, alleging the same thing, asking for $500,000,000 million in damages. These legal matters are now looking like the beginnings of prolonged and image-damaging lawsuits about Ford’s claimed fuel economy breakthrough with the downsized EcoBoost engine. (Class Action Suit Filed Against F-150 EcoBoost Engines for Stalling) Continue reading

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North Carolina Man Charged in Odometer Fraud Scheme

The United States charged Francis Marimo, of Raleigh, NC with two counts of odometer tampering, according to the Department of Justice statement released today. The charges were filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on 10 April 2013, alleging that from 2008 through 2012, Marimo fraudulently caused odometers in used motor vehicles to be altered to reflect false, low mileages. Continue reading

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Absolute Fuels Owner Guilty in $42 Million in Bio-Diesel Credit Scam

A bio-diesel fuel company owner was sentenced to 188 months in prison for crimes connected to an illegal fuels scheme and also fined $175,000 and ordered to pay nearly $55 million in restitution. In what appears to be a badly run government program of renewable fuel tax credits, Jeffrey Gunselman, 30, the owner of Absolute Fuels was able to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency for more than a year by falsely representing that he was in the business of producing bio-diesel fuel. Continue reading

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CountryMark Refining to Install $18 Million in Pollution Controls to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations at its Indiana Refinery

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that CountryMark Refining and Logistics has agreed to pay a $167,000 civil penalty, perform environmental projects totaling more than $180,000, and spend $18 million on new pollution controls to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at its refinery, located in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Continue reading

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Clean Green Fuel Owner Guilty in $9 Million in Bio-Diesel Scam

A U.S. District Judge today sentenced Rodney R. Hailey, of Perry Hall, Maryland to nearly 12 years and six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling $9 million in renewable fuel credits that he falsely claimed were produced by his company, Clean Green Fuel, LLC. Hailey, age 34, was convicted in June of 2012 on eight counts of wire fraud, 32 counts of money laundering, and two counts of violating the Clean Air Act. He has been detained since the guilty verdict.

Hailey made more than $9.1 million from selling the false credits, and used the proceeds of the scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, including BMWs, a Mercedes Benz, a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and others, as well as real estate and more than $80,000 in diamond jewelry. In all of these transactions, Hailey generally used cash or checks drawn on accounts he controlled to make the purchase, including a check for $645,330.15 to buy his home in Maryland. Continue reading

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