A truck driver has been fined a whopping 21 million Danish kroner for diesel fraud. Authorities believe he disconnected legally required equipment.
Diesel fraud has resulted in a truck driver in the United States being fined the equivalent of 21 million Danish kroner.
This is reported by the US Department of Justice.
The man disabled the factory-installed emissions controls on all his trucks to save money. But it's not just in the US and on trucks that diesel cheating is a problem.
More and more drivers in regular passenger cars are paying to have the statutory AdBlue system deactivated in newer diesel cars.
Diesel engine emissions are a serious threat to the environment, which is why car and truck manufacturers are required by law to equip vehicles with a variety of systems that capture pollution from the engine before it escapes into the air.
In the United States, vehicles have been subject to the Clean Air Act since 1963. This is a comprehensive set of regulations that limits pollution from vehicles on country roads. This also applies to trucks.
And circumventing the law can have major consequences. A trucker from Missouri can attest to that.
He has been sentenced to nine years in prison and a fine of 21 million kroner for manipulating the emission system on his trucks. He was also convicted of financial fraud.
Christopher Lee Carroll and his partner, George Reed, took out federal loans under the pretext that they would use the money to pay their employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, they used the money to build their trucking company. To save money, they removed emission control devices from their trucks. When authorities began investigating, Carroll threatened his employees to keep quiet.
After an extensive investigation, he was convicted of 13 violations of the Clean Air Act, as well as fraud and obstruction of justice. George Reed has already begun serving his sentence.
The problem of diesel cars being circumvented by law is not limited to trucks. Legislation to reduce emissions has pressured car brands to develop increasingly restrictive engine designs. This may be one reason why some drivers and truckers are trying to circumvent the rules.
The Clean Air Act is an important piece of US environmental legislation. The latest case shows that the authorities take violations of the law very seriously. Yet, several individuals and companies have been convicted of violating the law in recent years. Read more about it here .
