The Federal lawsuit by the association representing vehicle manufacturers that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to prevent the Commonwealth’s updated Right to Repair law from taking effect will go to trial this week. On November 3, 2020 more than 75% of voters in Massachusetts voted yes on […]
Auto Care Association Says Supreme Court Ruling Affirms Industry Ability to Build Replacement Parts Compatible with OEM Software
The Auto Care Association reacted in support of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Google v. Oracle case surrounding a decade-long copyright dispute over software. “The Auto Care Association is pleased with the April 5 decision by the Supreme Court, which stated that application program interfaces are fair use for building compatible components,” said Aaron […]
Rhode Island Woman Charged with Embezzling $580,000 from Collision Repair Shop
Secretary redirected insurance checks to her personal and family member accounts during two-year period. A Pawtucket, R.I. woman was arraigned in federal court in Providence on April 1 and released on personal recognizance, charged with allegedly executing a scheme to defraud her auto body repair shop employer of approximately $580,000. It is alleged in the […]
NY Attorney General Announces Conviction of Long Island Towing and Repair Facility for Tax Evasion
Businesses underreported sales by more than $8 million over 10 year period. New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Michael Schmidt announced March 26 the guilty pleas of two Long Island auto repair shops and their owner for tax evasion. Broadway Towing, Inc. and Broadway Auto & Towing, […]
Massachusetts Towing Company Owner Sentenced for Tax Fraud and Evading Cash Transaction Reporting
The owner of a Revere, Mass. towing company was sentenced on charges of engaging in an under-the-table payroll fraud scheme that defrauded the government of more than $3.3 million. Gennaro Angiulo, 49, of Nahant and Saugus, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to 42 months of probation with 18 months […]
Forest Service Employee and Collision Repair Shop Operator Indicted for Kickback Scheme for No-Bid Auto Body Work in California
A United States Forest Service employee was arrested March 1 on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with illegally directing nearly $900,000 in no-bid Forest Service vehicle repair and maintenance work to a JP’s Collision and Auto Body Center, Inc. in Bloomington, Calif. that illicitly paid him more than $360,000 in bribes and kickbacks. […]
Five Collision Repair Shops Charged with Operating Insurance Fraud Ring in New York State
The District Attorney in Westchester County, New York, Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr., announced the takedown of “Operation Sledgehammer”, an alleged insurance fraud enterprise operating in lower Westchester and the Bronx, following a nearly two-year long investigation. Five registered automotive repair businesses and nine defendants were charged with Enterprise Corruption for defrauding insurance companies by enhancing […]
Vehicle Manufacturer Association Sues to Block Massachusetts Right to Repair Amendments
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation alleges updated Right to Repair law violates motor vehicle safety regulations and is an unlawful taking of manufacturers’ intellectual property under the U.S. Constitution. The association representing manufacturers producing nearly 99 percent of cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court […]
California Towing Company Owners Alleged Part of Insurance Fraud Scheme
Towing company owners Bandar “Charlie” Albadawi, 57, and Sleiman “Slim” Zeinaty, 59, along with their employee Shelley Blowers, 50, were arrested on multiple felony counts of insurance fraud and filing false documents after allegedly altering tow records to further a client’s false insurance claim. Albadawi and Zeinaty are co-owners of All Desert Towing, a commercial […]
Pennsylvania Towing Company Owner Among More than Dozen Charged with Conspiring to Commit $24 Million PPP Loan Fraud
A Florida recording artist and a Pennsylvania towing company owner have been charged for their alleged participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Diamond […]