California BAR assisted with this investigation

“Illegal activity such as this is a crime against all of us as it negatively impacts the quality of air that we breath.  Air quality regulations are in place to protect our health and our environment.”

– CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

SACRAMENTO— Twelve people have been charged by federal indictment for a conspiracy to cheat California smog inspections using a sophisticated device known as the “OBDNator,” in violation of the Clean Air Act. The indictment was unsealed on April 4, 2024 following the arrests of the defendants who are alleged to have manufactured, distributed, and used OBDNators to cheat smog checks across the state.

According to court documents, between October 2015 and March 2024, the defendants allegedly participated in a conspiracy to cause polluting vehicles to pass California’s smog checks. Smog checks are typically performed by plugging smog inspection equipment, known as a Data Acquisition Device (DAD), into a vehicle’s On-Board Diagnostics port (OBD). To cheat smog tests, the conspirators plugged the smog inspection equipment into the OBDNator device instead. The OBDNator would then make it look like a vehicle had passed the smog check regardless of the true condition of that vehicle’s emission control system. While the defendants’ roles in the conspiracy varied, all of them allegedly used the OBDNator devices.

The following defendants are charged with conspiracy and making false statements pursuant to the Clean Air Act:

• Hossam “Sam” Hemdan, 54, of Hawthorne, owned and controlled several smog stations in Hawthorne and elsewhere. He designed, manufactured, and sold the OBDNator devices.
• Javier Salguero, 47, of Inglewood, owned and controlled several smog shops, including one in Bell and two in Maywood.
• Oscar Gomez, 36, of Rancho Cucamonga, ran a school for automotive technicians in Rancho Cucamonga.
• Guillermo Tovar, 35, of Fontana, worked at multiple smog stations.
• Arwa Harb, 53, of Redondo Beach, owned and controlled smog stations, including one in Wilmington and one in South Gate.
• Minh Truong, 45, of San Jose, operated out of smog stations owned by Thong Truong.
• Thong Truong, 40, of San Jose, owned and controlled smog stations, including two in Long Beach.
• Michael Nguyen, 38, of National City, operated out of a smog station in Spring Valley.

The following defendants are charged with conspiracy:

• Yehia Harb, 36, of Hawthorne, owned and controlled a smog shop that was formerly in Venice and presently is in Hawthorne.
• Khaled Hamdan, 31, of Hawthorne, worked at businesses owned by Hemdan.
• Jeremy Earls, 37, of Lakewood, owned and controlled smog stations, including two in Long Beach.
• Nas Meshal, 30, of La Palma.

“For many years, California’s Smog Check Program has successfully reduced the amount of pollution in the air we breathe by identifying polluting vehicles and requiring them to be repaired or retired,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert. “The developer and users of the OBDNator smog check cheating devices who are charged in the indictment unsealed today polluted the air we breathe for their own profit and harmed the health of Californians. Anyone who may be tempted to utilize a device to cheat on smog checks should consider that they too could face federal criminal charges and possible prison time. My office will continue to prioritize cases like this that protect our residents’ health and the environment.”

According to court documents, Hemdan developed the OBDNator device and its accompanying software program. Hemdan sold and distributed OBDNator devices for as much as $18,000. After plugging the smog inspection equipment into the OBDNator, the conspirators would use the OBDNator to convey false smog check information to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR). The OBDNator provided the Vehicle Identification Number and passing “answers” to the smog inspection equipment’s queries in the exact format that a passing vehicle of the same make, model, and year would provide. In order to provide those false answers, the defendants and others maintained collections of “clean” vehicle profiles that they would use to make it look like other, different vehicles had passed. The latest version of the OBDNator could pass a vehicle without the vehicle even being present at the smog station. During the conspiracy, some of the defendants organized classes to teach how to use the OBDNator and communicated through chat groups about how to avoid detection by authorities.