On Wednesday, it was announced that two Bakersfield residents had been arrested for their involvement in a conspiracy to sell California driver’s licenses to unqualified drivers. On March 15, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment against 54-year-old Paramjit Singh Mangat and 54-year-old Jesus Hernandez-Herrera. The defendants are charged with criminal conspiracy, six counts of unlawful production of an identification document and six counts of unlawful transfer of an identification document.
Court documents show that Mangat operated driving schools in Bakersfield. Those schools ostensibly provided training to individuals seeking driver licenses. He operated the Akal Truck Driving School and Akal Driving School. When students had difficulty passing DMV exams, Mangat offered to assist them in acquiring fraudulently issued licenses through a DMV employee. In return, Mangat received money.
It is alleged that Mangat conspired with Herrera from roughly June of 2012 through August 24, 2016. Herrera served as a Licensing Registration Examiner at a DMV office in Bakersfield. Herrera received monetary payment to agree to access the students’ DMV records and alter the records to show that they had passed DMV written and behind-the-wheel examinations. In reality, they had not passed one or more of the required tests.
As a result of Herrera’s actions, the DMV issued a California driver’s license and mailed it to the individual. Additional details have been made available here.