Smog-test scam sting nets three in county

CARSON CITY -- Three arrests have been made and four other suspects are being sought in Clark County after an undercover investigation turned up fraudulent smog testing of autos.

The two-month sting was a joint operation of the state attorney general's office, Metro Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety.

Arrested Monday was Richard Lukenbill, 43, a technician at Terrible Herbst on Boulder Highway in Henderson. Last week Joseph Giordana, 37, was picked up at Terrible Herbst on South Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas and Nathan Moulton, 35, was arrested in North Las Vegas at the business formerly called SS Auto Swap Meet. Their names had been withheld by the attorney general's office until Lukenbill was taken into custody.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Kunzi said Monday no charges have been filed against the businesses. It appears the technicians were "profiteering" by pocketing the extra money themselves, he said.

Motorists in Clark County must pass an annual smog inspection in order to register their vehicles.

Kunzi said agents doctored cars so they could not pass the inspection and then drove the vehicles into the stations. When the agents were informed the cars could not pass, they asked what could be done. The technicians, Kunzi said, would suggest they could handle the problem for $40 to $60.

The suspects then entered into the computer the make, model and identification of the "dirty" car and hooked up the smog testing equipment to another vehicle that could pass, Kunzi said. Or the technician might "fiddle" with the idling speed and then put a glove over the exhaust pipe. That acted like a filter and enabled the car to pass, he said.

"We've got videotapes of all of this," he said.

All of the suspects are charged with forgery for certifying the cars cleared the test. Arraignments will be held later for the suspects.

DMV officials had become suspicious when they noticed several auto inspection reports had similar emission readings. Kunzi said police and the attorney general's office also had received complaints from consumers who said they were charged $1,000 or more for repairs to pass the test when there was nothing wrong with the vehicles.

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