A haulage company which falsified vehicle maintenance records has been ordered to pay £500,000 after admitting 19 counts of fraud. The firm was fined £20,000 for each count and told to pay £120,000 costs. The experienced haulage firm employs around 300 people and had a turnover of £25m in 2019. One lorry's tachograph proved it was being driven when forged documents suggested it was in the garage being inspected. Another vehicle was stopped by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and its inspector found its suspension was defective and likely to become detached. It was later discovered the company had produced falsified periodic maintenance inspection (PMI) sheets. The court heard the 19 false safety sheets were connected to 13 different vehicles. Following the sentencing, Caroline Hicks, Head of Enforcement at the DVSA said: "This large company forged safety documents to deliberately avoid regular maintenance checks on their vehicles. This put the public and their employees at risk.” "We always pursue operators and push for the toughest penalties where there's evidence they are cutting corners at the expense of road safety." Source: BBC News.