Several DMV employees in Salinas and Sacramento have been arrested, along with three trucking school operators, for allegedly using bribes to help up to 100 commercial truck drivers to obtain Class A commercial drivers’ licenses illegally.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner named Emma Klem, 45, a Salinas DMV employee, and trucking school owner Kulwinder Dosanjh Singh, 58, as defendants charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and identity fraud. DMV examiners Andrew Kimura, 30, of Sacramento and Robert Turchin, 65, of Salinas, as well as trucking school owners Pavitar Dosangh Singh, 55, of Sacramento, and Mangal Gill, 55, of San Ramon, were also charged with conspiracy, bribery and fraud, according to KSBW.
According to court documents, the DMV workers altered records to prove that the truck drivers, whose truck-driving schools paid $5000 for each driver between June 2011 and March 2015, had successfully taken the written and behind-the-wheel tests offered by the DMV. The Los Angeles Times reported that the FBI joined with the Department of Homeland Security and the DMV to investigate the fraud after a DMV manager alerted the agency to possible wrongdoing in 2012.
Officials traced as many as 23 traffic accidents from drivers involved in the bribery scandal.
Other recent incidents involving illegally issued driver’s licenses occurred in February in San Diego, in March in Westminster, and in June in El Cajon.
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