Back around 2000, I bought a Honda Civic, and in buying insurance the VIN number was entered wrong by the insurance company employee - had a 1 instead of a 7 or something, due to the handwritten process in use at the time.

A few years later, after dutifully paying my insurance, but moving a few times for school the registration had lapsed and I got pulled over. They ended up taking the license plate because of this, that my car was "uninsured", and apparently I was paying for nothing for the last few years..

I cleared up the registration the next day and the insurance as well, but a few weeks later had to go to court to clear up the ticket. The judge asked me "Why didn't you check that the numbers matched on the insurance forms?", to which I replied "Did you check this with the last car you insured?". They let me off.

This is all to say, how is it possible that someone got $600k fine for a mistake that is obviously not the fault of the buyer?

There has to be more to it.