3 days ago
3 New York DMV employees, driving school busted in driver's license scheme, Staten Island DA says
Prosecutors say 3 N.Y. DMV examiners schemed with driving school to help people get licenses
Prosecutors say 3 N.Y. DMV examiners schemed with driving school to help people get licenses
Prosecutors say 3 N.Y. DMV examiners schemed with driving school to help people get licenses
Prosecutors say three New York State Department of Motor Vehicles examiners schemed with a driving school to help people get licenses without ever taking the proper tests, pocketing thousands of dollars in cash along the way.
Here's what is alleged
Detectives say the T&E Driving School on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens charged people $1,600 to $2,000 each to falsify driving exams. Investigators say the school's owner worked with three DMV examiners and a substitute driver who posed as other people to take tests.
Prosecutors say the scheme may have allowed hundreds if not thousands of people to get licenses.
"Countless individuals are now driving on our roads without ever having demonstrated the basic skills to do it safely," Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said.
How the case was cracked
The school is in Queens, but McMahon said the scheme involved several testing locations on Staten Island.
Investigators say they cracked the case using undercover cameras and an undercover NYPD officer who paid the school $1,600.
"A short time ago, our undercover, who never took the test, was told by the school he passed and was getting a license," McMahon said.
How the DMV is fixing its system going forward
The DMV now says it has begun the process of revoking the driving privilege of any customers of the scheme.
"These individuals often did not speak or understand English and may have believed they were taking legitimate, necessary steps," said George Ioannidis, acting deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations New York.
The DMV says it has already made changes and will be making more improvements to ensure something like this doesn't happen again, adding the employees involved have all been either fired or are on leave without pay, no longer doing road tests.
The DMV commissioner also applauded the employees who assisted in the case.
