Six people were arrested including two DMV employees for allegedly selling more than 200 fake driver’s licenses, learner’s permits and identification cards making more than $1 million. The New York State DMV employees are Glenda Hinton, 54, of the Harlem DMV and Robin Jones-Woodson, 42, of the Yonkers DMV and the alleged ring leader is Wilch Dewalt, 52. They were all charged with identity theft, bribery, and conspiracy, and face 30 ore more years in jail if convicted.
Customers of the fraud ring included alleged drug traffickers and dealers, money launderers and sex offenders. One customer was an undercover officer who posed as a man on the US government’s “no-fly” list. Fees for the fraudulent documents ranged from $7,000 to $10,000. The customer would pay the fee and provide a photograph, and the fraudsters would then obtain and provide a DMV document with a stolen identity.
Having appeared at the Manhattan North Traffic Violations Bureau many, many times fighting New York traffic tickets for clients, I am familiar with many DMV workers. While there are many helpful and nice employees, there are also a few who are rude, unhelpful and love to wield their “power”. I suspect the two arrested DMV employees here fall in the latter category.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Prosecutors: ID theft case takes deadly turn (cnn.com)
- Identity fraud nets B.C. man six months in jail (newswire.ca)