A Federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has indicted Matthew Caroluzzi and his company, Matt’s Heavy Duty Mobile Diagnostics and Truck Repair and Heavy Towing (Matt’s HD), with nine counts of violating the Clean Air Act and one count of conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act and aiding and abetting.
“Matt’s HD was a Pennsylvania certified vehicle safety inspection station that performed repairs and maintenance on commercial motor vehicles including heavy duty and medium duty diesel-powered trucks and other vehicles,” according to USDOT-OIG. “Caroluzzi, Matt’s HD, and others allegedly performed hundreds of “deletes” of hardware components of commercial motor vehicle emission control systems and software “tunes.” Hardware alterations to emissions control systems are often referred to as “deletes.” These deletes tampered with the monitoring function of diesel trucks’ on-board diagnostics (OBD) monitoring systems, thereby enabling numerous vehicles to function while emitting higher levels of air pollutants into the atmosphere.”
Altering Work Orders, Invoices
Caroluzzi and his co-conspirator employees recorded “deletes” and “tunes” as “deletes” on work orders and invoices, but later allegedly disguised the illegal conduct by using code words such as “reprogram,” “re-flash,” and “ECM repair” on Matt’s HD paperwork. The act of rendering an OBD system ineffective is commonly referred to as “tuning” or “flashing.”
Caroluzzi, Matt’s HD, and co-conspirators benefitted financially by collecting approximately $1 million in fees from customers for performing, and aiding and abetting the performance of, deletes and tunes on more than 700 diesel powered trucks.
DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
