TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Goldsmith for the Eastern District of Michigan has imposed penalties of more than $1.6 billion on Hino Motors Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, for emissions fraud scheme.
The judge accepted Hino Motors, Ltd.'s guilty plea to a one-count criminal information charging it with having engaged in a multi-year criminal conspiracy to defraud both the U.S. government and American consumers and illicitly smuggle goods into the country, the Justice Department said.
Judge Goldsmith also sentenced Hino to pay a criminal fine of $521.76 million, serve a five-year term of probation, and implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics program and reporting structure.
During the probation term, the Japanese automobile manufacturer is prohibited from importing any of its diesel engines into the United States.
The court also entered a $1.087 billion forfeiture money judgment against the company.
According to court records, between 2010 and 2019, Hino Motors, Ltd. engineers submitted false applications for engine certification approvals in violation of the federal Clean Air Act.
The engineers also submitted fraudulent carbon dioxide emissions test data, which resulted in false fuel consumption values being calculated for its engines, and failed to disclose software functions that could adversely affect engines' emission control systems. As a result of the fraud, Hino Motors, Ltd. imported and sold more than 105,000 non-conforming engines between 2010 and 2022. These engines were primarily installed in heavy-duty trucks manufactured and sold by Hino nationwide.
The company generated more than $1 billion in gross proceeds, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
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