Pennsylvania authorities arrested a mechanic in Halifax for making and selling fake commercial vehicle inspection stickers to more than 150 trucking companies. The arrest was made on August 4, 2025, after an investigation by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
The details: Fares Farhat, 50, faces 81 felony charges for forgery, theft, and related crimes. He is accused of running a shop called "A+ Auto Inspections" and "A Plus Auto Care LLC" out of different locations in the Philadelphia area.
- Investigators found inspection stickers missing normal security features on trucks. Some of those trucks had serious problems that should have taken them off the road.
- Farhat’s mechanic license had been suspended, but he kept offering both state and federal inspection certificates anyway.
- He charged between $150 and $250 per sticker, usually taking payment in cash or Zelle. Payments totaled almost $300,000 over hundreds of transactions.
What the DA said: Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele stated, “He deemed these vehicles safe and provided forged state and federal papers, when, in fact, they aren’t safe and should be taken out-of-service.”
Most trucking companies did not know the stickers were fake. The investigation showed more than 150 companies unknowingly bought these forged inspection papers.