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4w ago

Fourteen Indicted in Operation Road Test as DMV Pay-to-Drive Ring Is Dismantled

Investigators warn these indictments may be just the beginning of a scheme implicating hundreds more

A driving school in Queens, New York, allegedly charged people $1,600 to $2,000 each to falsify driving exams to get licenses. Authorities said the school's owner worked with three DMV examiners and a substitute driver posing as other people to take tests. (BATUHANOZDEL/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES/FILE)
(Shutterstock)
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Overview

  • A multiagency probe led by the Staten Island DA’s office, New York State investigators and Homeland Security unsealed 14 indictments on July 1 against DMV examiners and T&E Driving School staff.
  • Defendants face charges including tampering with public records, offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and identity theft.
  • Nearly two dozen suspects are in custody, ordered to surrender their passports and released on recognizance under New York’s bail reforms.
  • Prosecutors allege examiners accepted cash bribes to rubber-stamp or skip road tests for unqualified, non-English-speaking immigrants.
  • Officials warn the scheme poses public safety and homeland security risks and say further charges are expected as the investigation expands.