7 minute read
Investigation
A Nissan Pathfinder hood latch recall follows a federal investigation into why the hoods suddenly fly open while driving.
The 2013-2016 Nissan Pathfinder hood latch recall involves nearly 360,000 SUVs in the U.S. and Canada.
The government opened an investigation into Pathfinder hood latches in December 2021 after receiving 14 reports which said the hoods opened when the latches failed.
According to Nissan, the hood can open while driving if the primary hood latch is inadvertently released or the hood is not closed properly with the bell crank lever in the open position. Trying to drive a Pathfinder with the hood blocking the driver's view may be a challenge.
“On certain Pathfinder vehicles, dust and dirt contamination may accumulate on and around the bell crank lever pivot joint,” Nissan said. “Over time, the build-up of contamination combined with a lack of proper inspection and maintenance of the bell crank assembly (as described in the Owner’s Manual) can create mechanical binding that could cause the lever to remain in the open position after it has been disengaged.”
Nissan also said the contamination can scratch the bell crank protective anti-corrosion coating, which allows corrosion of the metal in the pivot joint.
Even though the investigation continued for months and Nissan has ordered this recall, the automaker is still trying to figure out how dealerships will repair the Pathfinders.
Nissan mailed interim recall letters to a selected sample of 40,000 Pathfinder owners beginning June 30. This hood latch recall letter will invite the owner to bring their Pathfinder to a dealer to have technicians inspect the bell crank and hood lock assembly and replace them if needed. But the replacement parts will be the same hood latches and components as originally installed in the Pathfinders. The collected components will be used by Nissan to create a recall remedy.
Nissan will then mail interim Pathfinder hood latch recall letters to all other affected owners by Aug. 3. The recall letters will show owners how to properly inspect the bell crank assemblies and hood lock levers for proper operation.
If the lever moves freely, the Pathfinder owner can clean the lever based on the Nissan Pathfinder owner’s manual. The owner can also bring the Pathfinder to a dealer for the cleaning and maintenance.
However, if the levers don't move freely, Nissan Pathfinder owners should take their vehicles to dealers to have the bell crank assemblies and hood lock levers inspected. The dealers will clean and lubricate the parts if the levers are working properly.
The components will be replaced with new like-for-like hood latch components if the levers and locks aren't working.
“When the final remedy plan is available, Nissan will mail final remedy notification letters and include a statement concerning reimbursement for the cost of obtaining a pre-notification remedy for a subject vehicle that was no longer under warranty at the time of a repair,” Nissan said.
Owners of 2013-2016 Nissan Pathfinders can call 800-867-7669 and ask about hood latch recall numbers R22A2 and R22A3.
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said Waldon. “Our IRS-CI special agents will continue to seek out those who illegally benefit from unreported income and create unfair business advantages for themselves in the community.”
According to their guilty pleas, Ercin Kalender owned and operated Butch’s, a very successful Capital Heights, MD, auto body shop. Lizette Kalender worked at the shop as a manager and bookkeeper. In that capacity, she handled tax reporting matters and regularly worked with an outside tax preparation and accounting agency, which prepared the taxes for Butch’s and the personal tax returns for the Kalendars.
For the fiscal tax years of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the Kalenders conspired with each other to include materially false information on their Form 1120s filed with the IRS on behalf of Butch’s, including a significantly lower report of gross income and taxable income.
The Kalenders jointly worked to divert revenue from Butch’s and avoid significant revenues being deposited into Butch’s corporate bank accounts and reported to the IRS. As part of the conspiracy, the Kalenders kept two sets of financial records for Butch’s, one that reported the actual revenues and profits of the business and a second set that reported lower figures which were used for tax purposes.
The Kalenders’ conspiracy to submit false tax returns also involved cashing checks, received at Butch’s at a Prince George’s County check cashing facility, “Business A.” The checks cashed at Business A were not reported on Butch’s tax returns and resulted in the underreporting of Butch’s annual income for fiscal years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 by more than $6.6 million.The corresponding tax loss to the IRS for the four years was $2,219,602.
As stated in their plea agreements, in August 2018, the Kalendars sought to sell Butch’s. As part of the investigation, an undercover federal agent posed as a potential buyer and had contact with the Kalenders.
During their conversations, Ercin and Lizette Kalendar explained the profitability of Butch’s and revealed their practices of the underreporting of revenues and income from Butch’s.
During one conversation, while Lizette was present, Ercin informed the uncover agent he had a regular practice of taking checks intended to pay for auto body repair work and cashing them at Business A. Some of the checks were made payable to Butch’s, while other customer checks were written to Butch’s customers, or jointly payable to Butch’s and the customers.
Further, Ercin explained, while Butch’s filed tax returns showed $2.2 million in gross receipts, the actual gross receipts were closer to $3.1 million, $4.2 million and $3.9 million for the fiscal years for 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. He also said his father had done this for years before he had taken over Butch’s operations and his father used Business A to cash checks for 30 to 35 years.
Ercin told the undercover agent he regularly cashed $50,000 to $60,000 at a time in off-the-books checks at Business A, but estimated he had reduced the amounts in recent years to approximately $30,000 to $35,000 cashed per visit to Business A. Ercin also told the agent Lizette also reported sizeable W-2 income, which helped them evade scrutiny by the IRS.
While working with the outside tax preparation and accounting agency, Lizette deliberately hid the money flowing through Business A. Lizette sent bank statements for the corporate accounts, check stubs, credit card statements, payroll records and other business records, but withheld the revenue received through the checks cashed at Business A, thus underreporting taxable income to the tax preparation and accounting agency.
During conversations with the undercover agent, Lizette showed records to the undercover agent displaying total sales of $4.3 million and $3.9 million for the fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Lizette also talked about pulling out invoices for additional customers from business records to cause business records to match their bank records.
As detailed in their plea agreements, the Kalenders knowingly caused a portion of the employees’ wages to be paid in cash and falsely reported the wages of Butch’s employees on Forms 941 filed with IRS. In a conversation with the undercover agent, Ercin said he paid all his employees’ extra compensation in cash to avoid tax obligations, except for one secretary who was not paid under the table.
This system of paying employees in cash deprived the State of Maryland of tax revenue and subverted the taxation systems of the IRS and Maryland.
In 2019, after the Kalenders became aware of the IRS’s investigation, Butch’s reported gross receipts of more than $4.5 million, an increase of more than $2.2 million over the fiscal year 2018.
Barron commended the IRS-CI for their work in the investigation, and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry M. Gruber, who prosecuted the case.
Source: The U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Maryland
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