Feds charge Illinois trucking company owner in alleged CDL fraud

Prosecutors claim owner used hidden microphones to help applicants cheat on exams

Mykola Datkun, 33, of Port Barrington, Illinois, has been charged in an elaborate scheme to allegedly help test-takers cheat on CDL exams. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Federal prosecutors have charged the owner of an Illinois trucking company in an elaborate scheme to help applicants cheat on CDL exams by using hidden microphones and earpieces.

Mykola Datkun, 33, of Port Barrington, Illinois, is accused of directing CDL applicants attempting to cheat on their CDL examinations to his Island Lake, Illinois, testing facility.

Prosecutors claim that he and unnamed co-conspirators provided test-takers with an earpiece, which was synched to the individuals’ phones, and a microphone receiver, also connected to the phones, that was placed near test-takers’ shirt collars.

Datkun was charged on Feb. 14 with one count of conspiracy to produce fraudulent documents.

As of publication, Datkun’s attorney Steven R. Shanin had not responded to FreightWaves’ request seeking comment.

According to court documents, federal prosecutors allege that from 2019 until December 2022, Datkun, owner of Maximum Services of Island Lake, Illinois, helped individuals “cheat on the written Illinois CDL examination.”

The documents allege that Datkun and unnamed co-conspirators listened to the questions from the CDL exams and “agreed to and did relay via the earpiece the answers to the questions in real time to the individuals taking the examination.”

Prosecutors say Datkun and co-conspirators received at least $500 from individuals they allegedly helped cheat on the exams.

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Clarissa Hawes

Clarissa has covered all aspects of the trucking industry for 18 years. She is an award-winning journalist known for her investigative and business reporting. Before joining FreightWaves, she wrote for Land Line Magazine and Trucks.com. If you have a news tip or story idea, send her an email to chawes@firecrown.com or @cage_writer on X, formerly Twitter.