Feds: Island Lake trucking company helped drivers cheat to get commercial licenses

The owner of an Island Lake-based trucking firm is accused of helping others cheat on the Illinois Commercial Drivers License test through a complicated scheme involving hidden earpieces and microphones, court documents show.

Mykola Datkun, owner of Maximum Services Inc., is scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court in Chicago for an arraignment on a charge related to the production of fraudulent identification documents, according to court records.

The charge, filed last week in U.S. District Court, alleges that between 2019 and 2022 Datkun helped an undisclosed number of individuals cheat on the written portion of the CDL exam, allowing them to receive licenses from the Illinois Secretary of State.

Datkun’s attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

A criminal complaint filed last week details an elaborate plot through which, federal prosecutors allege, Datkun directed drivers seeking to cheat on the CDL exam to his business in Island Lake.

Once there, authorities say, Datkun and unnamed co-conspirators provided them with an earpiece, which was synced to the test-takers phone, and a microphone receiver, which was hidden near the person’s shirt collar.

The drivers were then directed to secretary of state facilities, including one in Elk Grove Village, to take an audio version of the CDL exam, documents state. Once there, the test-taker would call a phone number provided by Datkun, and co-conspirators would listen to the exam and provide answers to the test-taker, prosecutors allege.

Datkun and co-conspirators collected at least $500 from each person they helped cheat on the test, documents state.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240220/news/feds-suburban-truck-company-owner-helped-drivers-cheat-to-get-licenses/