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Category Archives: fools ‘n frauds
Oil Recycling Company and Owner Guilty of Toxic Crimes
A North Carolina used oil recycling business and its owner plead guilty to unlawful handling of PCB-contaminated used oil and other crimes today. Benjamin Franklin Pass, 60, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc. of Wilmington, N.C., pleaded guilty in federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as for making false statements and failing to pay several years of taxes. Continue reading
Posted in environment, fools 'n frauds, litigation, people
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, doj, epa, Ken Zino, oil recycling, pcbs, toxic waste
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U.S. Unemployed Far Outnumber Job Openings
The April Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that job openings fell by 118,000 in April to only 3.8 million. Job openings have seen little improvement during the last year and remain depressed. In 2007, there were 4.5 million job openings each month. April’s rate of 3.8 million is more than 16% below the levels before President Bush’s Great Recession took hold. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, economy, fools 'n frauds
Tagged autoinformed, autoinformed.com, great recession, jobs, Ken Zino, u.s. unemployment
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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
Posted in aftermarket, auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, Ken Zino, odometer fraud
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Absolute Fuels Guilty in $42 Million 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
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
U.S. Sues Lance Armstrong for False Racing Sponsorship Claims
From 1996 through 2004, the USPS sponsored a professional cycling team owned by Tailwind and its predecessors. Between 2001 and 2004 alone, the Postal Service paid $31 million in sponsorship fees. (Imagine how much could be recovered only the Justice Department went after its friends at the Wall Street firms, banks and ratings agencies that cost taxpayers billions upon billions of dollars because of false claims in the sub-prime mortgage business.)
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Posted in fools 'n frauds, litigation, people, racing
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, floyd landis, Ken Zino, lance armstrong
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Transocean Pleads Guilty of Environmental Crimes in Gulf Oil Spill. $400 Million in Penalties for its Role in Deepwater Horizon Disaster
Transocean Deepwater pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Clean Water Act for its illegal conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The drilling company was sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal fines and penalties, Attorney General Holder announced today. Continue reading
Posted in energy, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bp, doj, gulf oil spill, Ken Zino, Macondo well, transoceon
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More Spills in Gulf of Mexico as U.S. Files Suit against ATP Oil
Today the United States filed suit against ATP Oil & Gas Corporation and ATP Infrastructure Partners for civil penalties and injunctive relief under the Clean Water Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The complaint alleges unlawful discharges of oil and banned chemical dispersants from the defendants’ floating oil and gas production platform, the ATP Innovator, into the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling rig is operating 45 nautical miles offshore of southeastern Louisiana. Continue reading
Posted in energy, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news
Tagged atp oil & gas, auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bp, Ken Zino, oil spills
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BP Sentenced to Pay $4 Billion for Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Crimes
Nevertheless, the penalty remains a small fraction of the actual damage caused by pumping at least 5 billion gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This means that BP is paying less than $1 a gallon for the criminal spill and destruction of the environment. Continue reading
Posted in fools 'n frauds, litigation, news
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bp, deepwater horizon, gulf oil spill, Ken Zino, Macondo well
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Second Alabama Cop to Serve Time for I-65 Motorist Thefts
A second Alabama police officer has been sentenced to serve time because of his thefts from motorists on I-65. Former Fort Deposit police officer Carlos Tyson Bennett, 37, was sentenced to 37 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $500 in restitution. Bennett stole money from motorists during traffic stops with another ex Fort Deposit cop, Jessie Alan Fuller, on Interstate 65 in 2009. Continue reading
Used Motor Vehicle Dealers Indicted for Odometer Tampering
A federal grand jury in Philadelphia charged Kyle Novitsky, 45, and Judith Aloe, 52, both of North Miami Beach, Florida with making false odometer statements, securities fraud and conspiracy, the Justice Department announced today. Continue reading
Virginia Man Jailed for Selling Counterfeit GM Diagnostic Equipment
A Virginia man was sentenced today in federal court to serve one year and one day in prison for selling counterfeit General Motors automotive diagnostic equipment used by mechanics to identify problems with GM vehicles. Continue reading
Transocean Pleads Guilty in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Criminal and Civil Fines Set at a Record $1.4 Billion by Department of Justice
Transocean Deepwater, the operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, will plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and pay a total of $1.4 billion in civil and criminal fines for its conduct during the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Continue reading
Posted in environment, fools 'n frauds, litigation, news, transportation
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, bp, deepwater horizon, gulf oil spill, Ken Zino, Macondo well, moex, transoceon
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Alaskan Contractor to Serve Time for Dumping Hazardous Waste
The former owner of a road and parking lot painting and striping business in Anchorage, Alaska will serve time in prison for dumping hazardous waste. William Duran Vizzerra, Jr., 43, was sentenced by Chief Judge Ralph R. Beistline to 15 months in prison. The court also ordered Vizzerra to pay $395,319 in restitution to two victims. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, environment, fools 'n frauds, litigation
Tagged auto informed, autoinformed.com, automotive news, doj, hazardous waste, Ken Zino
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Toyota to Pay Record $17.35 Million for Lexus Safety Cover-Up
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced that Toyota Motor Corporation would pay $17.35 million, the maximum fine, in response to the agency’s assertion that the automaker once again failed to report a safety defect to the federal government in a timely manner. Continue reading
Posted in auto news, fools 'n frauds, litigation, safety
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