State targets bogus emissions inspections

October 23, 2008 05:15 PM Email| Comments (8)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

Just ask for "Joe the Fish."

State officials are alleging that if you used that password you could get a bogus emission test at a Dorchester service station.

The attorney general's office said today it had filed lawsuits against Dorchester Auto Service Inc. and another station in Somerville. It also said the state Department of Environmental Protection was seeking to fine and strip the inspection licenses from five other stations for conducting fraudulent car inspections. A total of 12 inspectors were allegedly involved.

"Emissions inspection stations and inspectors must recognize that they cannot circumvent or ignore the law without legal ramifications," said Attorney General Martha Coakley.

The actions by authorities came after a joint investigation of emissions inspection stations by the attorney general and the DEP, in coordination with the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The probe found that stations were allegedly issuing passing inspection stickers on cars that hadn't actually been tested, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

The emissions tests were allegedly conducted on a different vehicle and then those results were used to issue a passing sticker to the vehicle that came in for testing.

The five stations facing penalties from the DEP included two in Framingham, two in Lawrence, and one in Everett.

At Dorchester Auto Service, motorists who wanted to avoid expensive repairs for a car that had already failed the test, or that had an illuminated check engine light, would ask for "Joe the Fish," the attorney general's office said. Employee George C. Nelson of Cambridge would allegedly conduct a fraudulent inspection and issue a passing certificate even though the car had not been inspected.

A telephone message left at Dorchester Auto Service this afternoon wasn't immediately returned. Nelson didn't immediately return a message left at his home.

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8 comments so far...

I love it! Tony Soprano has moved to Boston!

Posted by LJC October 23, 08 05:58 PM

My guess is the state came up with the Joe the fish thing and set up certain service stations to test there honesty.
The results; Now all service stations have to trash all the equipment previously purchased which some are still now paying loans for.
Take a new loan and buy more new equipment.
As a business owner my box trucks now have to be dropped off for 3 hours to complete the new inspection and it costs 114.00 dollars in place of the 29.00
It is again getting more sickening to own and operate a business in TAX A CHUSETTS

Posted by Concern For Business October 23, 08 06:17 PM

What More do you expect from the Company that Did the BIG DIG. Parsons is running the New Inspection Program!

Posted by Bob October 23, 08 10:42 PM

I'm not surprised. Even when I was in high school in Central MA, everyone knew who you could bribe for an inspection sticker.

Posted by Liz October 23, 08 11:10 PM

Concern for Business, doesn't the new inspection program cover everything necessary for the federal inspection as well for commercial vehicles? From what I rememeber (its been a while) you should be getting your trucks done faster overall now and maybe even cheaper with only having to pay MA.

Posted by scorp October 24, 08 12:06 AM

"It is again getting more sickening to own and operate a business in TAX A CHUSETTS"

Survival of the fittest. "Let the market decide." If you can't cut it- get out.

Posted by heyduke October 24, 08 12:26 AM

So what! The Registry main goal is to get their payoffs. This is obvious because the only real requirement to be an inspector in this state is to have a conflict of interest. You profit by cheating people who have no choice but to allow you to cheat them. Even though we have mechanical devices where specifications are not only possible, they are available the inspection is left to an opinion of a person with a conflict of interest.

The Registry requires unnecessary safety repairs for automobiles. I have been through it many times. The Registry required my car that met manufactures specification to have its exhaust modified because I did not pay an inspector for a worthless repair. See Harvardswar.com. They failed me for lighting even though I meant all specification required by the documented law. The inspection program in this state is nothing more than a harassment program designed to shake poor people down. It is not a program to help the public, but to make a few Harvard Boys rich. That is clearly its only purpose. The statistics clearly show this. Any realistic look at the program makes it clear. If you look at other state you will actually see inspection programs designed to help people and prevent fraud. Massachusetts is just the opposite. Massachusetts is about the payoff.

In this case a couple of honest businesses were actually trying to help poor people out. Too bad the state refuses to help poor people. To bad we cannot have an honest inspection program in this state. It is something that is truly needed with today�s complex cars that require special testing equipment. But that would be helping people. Instead we have an inspection program that only goal is to shake people down. So a couple of inspectors are helping people out by discounting the shake down. What is wrong with that? They are just providing a little competition in a corrupt environment. They are actually helping people. Not just shoving money in their pockets like our state officials are.

I should note that this is also why the state has come out with a new inspection programs. The new inspection is to guarantee that people will not be helped out by the program. If the goal were to help people the state would get more advanced equipment, eliminate the conflict of interest, and use this to help identify problems in cars so that valid repairs can be made. The new program is just designed to keep people from being able to find out what is actually wrong and get the simple problem resolved. It is better for the service station to do $1,000 worth of useless repairs rather than spraying a little cleaner on you MAP sensor. How much can they make on a five minute fix? The right equipment would tell you what is actually wrong.

Posted by Danny M. Kelly October 24, 08 09:59 AM

I wondered why the guy in my inspection station in watertown chatted with another customer (without a vehicle) for a while, took some cash, and handed him a sticker...

Posted by Lori October 24, 08 11:08 AM