LTO, NBI probe sale of fake driver’s licenses
SYNDICATE HUNTED
MEMBERS of a syndicate behind the issuance of fake driver’s license cards are now the objects of an intensive manhunt by the joint Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Pangasinan.
This after LTO Region 1 confiscated five fake driver’s license cards of motorcycle riders separately in a span of just one week.
The riders who possessed fake license cards were stopped by LTO agents and their deputies along the highways for not wearing the mandatory crash helmet.
When asked by the agents for their licenses, the riders handed the fake driver’s license cards.
The arresting LTO agents noticed the discrepancies in the fake licenses so they brought the apprehended riders to police stations for questioning.
LTO Region I Director Teofilo Guadiz III said the seeming widespread use of fake licenses is a very serious matter because the fake licenses cards could pass for genuine ones if the law enforcer is not aware of the differences.
Guadiz, however, still refused to identify the names of the motorcycle riders pending completion of the investigation by the LTO and the NBI.
It was learned that a computer shop in Pangasinan is suspected to be the source of the fake licenses is now under surveillance.
Initial investigations indicate that a fake driver’s license card is being sold by the syndicate from P10,000 to P20,000 each to motorists.
The genuine LTO licenses ones from the LTO cost less but the driver applicant must accomplish some requirements.
The LTO and NBI are still determining the extent of distribution that the syndicate has managed so far and whether the sale and distribution is limited to Pangasinan or Region 1.
The LTO said persons caught with fake licenses will be fined P10,000 and will be disqualified from obtaining a license for two years. (Leonardo Micua)
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