U-Haul has sued 14 Chicago-area towing companies and individuals for allegedly towing U-Haul trucks and trailers in order to charge the company "exorbitant and baseless fees" for the return of the equipment, U-Haul has announced.

Several defendants allegedly offered payments to U-Haul customers in exchange for their participation in the tow fraud aimed at billing U-Haul for thousands of dollars in unnecessary towing and vehicle storing fees. The complaint alleges that the defendants falsely represented to U-Haul that its equipment required their towing due to vehicle accidents and mechanical breakdowns that never actually occurred.

The lawsuit names as defendants Traffic Recovery Inc., Muhanad Ali, Ambition Towing Inc., A.T.I. Recovery, Haifa Ali, Rafat Ali, Evans Towing and Recovery Inc., Lutredze Evans, Automotive Transport Specialist Inc., Ibrahim Ziaha, South Side Towing Inc., Jennifer Abdelrahman, Affordable Towing and Recovery LLC, and Tremaine L. Hemingway.

"U-Haul filed the lawsuit after an extensive investigation following an increasing number of U-Haul rental equipment had been towed in the region under suspicious circumstances," said Steve Hansen, a U-Haul area district vice president. "This lawsuit follows a string of recent news stories on other Chicagoland tow truck companies allegedly engaging in unlawful behavior."