The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, based in Chicago, announced the guilty plea of a Northbrook, Illinois man to illegally obtaining clean titles for approximately 180 salvaged and rebuilt vehicles and putting them to use as taxicabs on the streets of Chicago for a period of over two years between 2007 to 2010.
TOP STORIES:
Top 15 Travel Gear Accessories
Infants On Plane: Twins’ Parents Offer Candy, No Apology
GUIDE: Are You Allowed To Bring Alcohol On A Plane?
GUIDE: Are You Allowed To Smoke E-Cigarettes On A Plane?
How To Save 82% Off Baby Formula (And More)
The defendant entered a plea agreement wherein he admitted to fraudulently obtaining paperwork (conspiracy to transport, receive and possess a counterfeit security) to conceal the history of the damaged cars in order to bypass City of Chicago laws that prohibit the use of salvaged and rebuilt vehicles as taxicabs. Nevertheless, the defendant reserved the right to dispute the total number of vehicles involved in the scheme for his open plea sentencing hearing in November which he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense.
Plea agreement states approximately 180 impaired vehicles were used as taxicabs on Chicago streets after they were falsely given clean titles
Among the companies using such illegal taxicab vehicles were Chicago Elite Cab Corp. and Chicago Carriage Taxi Company via Seven Amigos Used Cars.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office:
After procuring from online auction sites significantly damaged cars with salvage titles, Igolnikov and his associates fraudulently obtained “rebuilt” titles for those damaged vehicles by submitting false paperwork– including affidavits with the forged signature of an Indiana law enforcement officer—to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the plea agreement states. The vehicles were then transported to the Chicago business of , which was also used by . After obtaining the Indiana rebuilt title for a salvaged vehicle, Igolnikov and his associates placed a sticker over the “rebuilt” section of the Indiana certification and then used that title to obtain a clean Illinois title from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, according to the plea agreement. Igolnikov purchased the newly certified vehicles in the names of Seven Amigos Used Cars, Chicago Elite Cab and other related corporate entities, the plea agreement states.
Igolnikov and his business associates, including Chicago Elite Cab, operated the fraudulently certified vehicles as taxicabs in Chicago—in violation of the city’s medallion laws, which prohibit any vehicle that was ever issued a “salvage” or “rebuilt” title in any state from being used as a taxicab, the plea agreement states.
____
@travelblawg
facebook.com/travelblawg
Subscribe in the sidebar!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission.
It’s a shame that he had to go to all that trouble doing nefarious things to circumvent such a manifestly absurd law. It contributes nothing to public safety–many cars with salvage titles are perfectly comfortable and safe–and simply drives up prices with onerous regulation. I hope Uber is not subject to the same restrictions. It seems Uber is perhaps not only doing an end run around the taxi cartel, but also their regulating government accomplices.
I’d bet dollar to doughnuts that the mostly unregulated Uber vehicles and the like are bigger violators per capita. The lack of oversight seems to make it very easy to bypass the laws and Uber’s own rules, as enforcement is minimal to nonexistent from what I have witnessed.
Disregarding the safety of the public by doing this is unacceptable, it sucks that he gets punished but if you disobey, you will have to accept the punishment.