In addition to a crime of documentary falsification, this businessman threatened the safety of his workers and other road users
That professional drivers respect the legally established rest times is one of the struggles of the DGT (just like avoiding speeding, distractions…). Even so, there are those who forget it, like this businessman who has been arrested for forcing his drivers to work more hours than allowed and manipulating the tachographs to hide it.
To avoid being discovered, the businessman arrested in Algeciras (Cádiz) forced his drivers to use third-party transport cards and to circulate with the control devices, the tachographs, manipulated.
According to sources of the investigation, this businessman falsified the records, and created a document with false information. These falsified data referred to driving times, rest times, speed and distance travelled.
“In this way, the detainee put the lives of his workers at serious risk, and obtained illegal advantages in the competition rules governing the community road transport market,” the agents explain.
Several months of investigation
The investigation began in February 2022 when a signal from the Girona Civil Traffic Guard stopped a goods transport vehicle and found that it had a tampered driving and rest time control device.
This led the Road Safety Prosecutor’s Office and the Mossos d’Esquadra of the Traffic Division to initiate an investigation to clarify whether the employer was subjecting his workers to “unlawful working conditions.”
The agents responsible for the investigation learned of the existence of a workshop in Estepona (Málaga) that was dedicated to laundering the tachographs of the company’s trucks. They also discovered at the company headquarters, in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), a dozen vehicles with manipulated tachographs to be able to drive faster and for more kilometers.
Arrested Drivers as Necessary Cooperators
The police operation has resulted in the arrest of six people and twelve investigated.
One of the detainees is the businessman who is accused of 200 continuous crimes of documentary falsification and against the right of workers. Several drivers have also been arrested as necessary cooperators; as well as the workers in the workshop where the company’s tachographs were handled.
