Don't Mess with the DMV: 5 Arrests Made for Fraudulent License & I.D. Production
The DMV's Investigation Division, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office and the LAPD have arrested three men accused of fraudulent driver's license and identification card production. Peter Scott Singer, 26, of Monrovia, Todd Terrazas, 24, of West Hollywood and Lawrence Benjamin Goldstein, 22, of Los Angeles each face multiple felony counts of forging government identity documents and falsification of state seals. The men are currently being held on $100, 000 bail.
“Those who attempt to counterfeit and sell driver licenses unlawfully jeopardize everyone’s safety. We will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone who engage in these activities,” said George Valverde, Director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles. “I applaud the work of the DMV Investigations Division, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Police Department.”
Evidence including computer equipment and printers was confiscated from five locations - Monrovia, Venice, West Hollywood, San Marino and Pacific Palisades. The operation concluded an eight-month investigation of the "counterfeit operation millhouse," as described in a LAPD advisory message.
If convicted, the men face up to three years in state prison.
A separate DMV fraud case resulted in the Wednesday arrests of two former DMV employees.
Carlos Ku of L.A. - a 28-year-old former Santa Monica field office DMV employee of six years - and Alejandro Rubalcava of Bellflower - a 31-year-old former Hawthorne field office DMV employee of four years - were both detained on multiple counts of criminal misconduct for unlawfully processing and selling unauthorized driver licenses.
DMV investigators discovered that the former employees were allegedly working with a “middle man,” who conspired to sell driver licenses to customers willing to pay for written and/or drive tests. DMV’s investigation revealed the subjects, while employed with the department, accessed the DMV database and entered fraudulent information to circumvent legal presence and testing requirements. These acts occurred on or about July 9, 2010 to January 2011. The method utilized by the employees to compromise the DMV system has been identified and fraud mitigations steps are in place.
