DETROIT (CHATNEWSTV) — A U.S. federal court on Wednesday sentenced Hino Motors Ltd., a Toyota subsidiary, to more than $1.6 billion in penalties after the company admitted to a years-long emissions fraud scheme.
U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith in Michigan accepted Hino’s guilty plea to conspiracy charges, imposing a $521.76 million criminal fine and a five-year probation period that bars the company from importing diesel engines it manufactures into the United States. The court also ordered Hino to forfeit $1.087 billion in proceeds gained from the fraudulent scheme.
“Hino unlawfully imported over 105,000 engines that did not comply with U.S. emissions standards and lied about what it was doing,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson. “This criminal conduct gave Hino an unfair advantage over law-abiding companies and generated over $1 billion in illegal profits.”
According to court records, between 2010 and 2019, Hino engineers falsified emissions data, manipulated test results, and failed to disclose software that affected engine performance, all in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. The company’s fraudulent actions allowed it to sell non-compliant diesel engines, which were primarily installed in heavy-duty trucks across the country.
“Hino falsely certified compliance with the Clean Air Act so it could profit off Americans by sending illegal, polluting engines into the U.S.,” said Jeffrey Hall, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s enforcement office. “Today’s sentencing shows that companies who evade environmental laws and fabricate data will be held criminally accountable.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. Prosecutors said Hino’s penalty includes a requirement to implement a strict compliance and ethics program to prevent future violations.
“By pleading guilty, Hino has admitted to orchestrating a deliberate and years-long fraud scheme that put profit over principle,” said Acting FBI Assistant Director James C. Barnacle Jr. “The FBI is committed to holding corporations accountable, no matter how complex the scheme.”
