Federal authorities have collared an employee of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in connection with scheme to provide driver's licenses to illegal aliens. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Nancy Brown, 28, of Las Vegas, was arrested and charged with violating federal bribery statutes. ICE reports that it received a tip about Brown's counterfeit license operation from an anonymous source. ICE said in a news release:
According to the complaint, in September 2010 the Chief of Nevada DMV's Compliance Enforcement Division received information from an unnamed individual that two persons had fraudulently received Nevada driver's licenses through a suspected DMV employee. Federal and state authorities began an investigation and determined that Brown, a DMV technician, allegedly sold authentic Nevada driver's licenses to individuals who were not entitled to the licenses, primarily illegal aliens. The individuals paid between $1,700 and $3,000 for the licenses.
Getting a phony license from Brown was an easy task, ICE reports. The illegals merely showed up at the Las Vegas DMV and they received phony licenses, according to ICE. "The illegal aliens were instructed to go to the DMV," ICE reports, "and sit in the lobby area near Brown's application station."
Brown would then motion the customers to her station and complete the fraudulent paperwork. The customers did not provide or produce any identity documents or proof of eligibility to Brown. Brown processed the transactions and collected the required DMV fees, then directed the customers to the camera station where they received their temporary licenses. The complaint alleges Brown processed 187 fraudulent Nevada driver's license applications.
Federal gumshoes collared Brown on May 5. She was released on a personal recognizance bond.
Just One Case Of Many
Brown's case is just one of many and the second instance of fraud at a DMV in two weeks that federal authorities have stopped in as many weeks. Motor vehicle departments across the country are major targets for illegal aliens seeking to procure phony identification.
Last week, federal cops in Florida nailed a dozen-and-a-half people in a scam similar to the one in Las Vegas. In that case, a convicted felon "conspired with … examiners at three different Broward County offices of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, to produce and transfer valid Florida driver’s licenses without lawful authority."
In addition to those three indictments, federal authorities charged 14 others who obtained the fake driver's licenses "using fraudulent immigration documents to support their license applications."
As well, as The New American reported, in February, federal gumshoes busted a fake identification ring based in Mexico. It was running scams in 19 cities across 11 states. It produced 15,000 phony documents, authorities say, before they stopped it. This gang, however, was also adept at murder and racketeering.
The defendants, who are being held in Virginia, are accused of 12 counts, including racketeering, murder, assault, firearms possession, kidnapping, money laundering, and possessing and producing false documents. Most are illegal immigrants from Mexico.
The Mexico-based ring operated in 19 U.S. cities and generated more than $1 million over less than two years selling Social Security cards, driver's licenses and work documents at prices ranging from $150 to $200, according to an indictment.
