Costa Rica Governement Driver License Validation Fraud

Well MOPT does it again.  They make my job reporting on the corruption in the government very easy.  However, they will say this is only a few bad apples in the system. They are just following the example set by leaders in this division of the Costa Rican government, which is to line your pockets with money every way you can.  Like  it has been seen over Laura Chinchilla’s presidency it is not corruption or stealing unless you get caught and then you can always resign or point your finger somewhere else to defer blame.

The Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) discovered a great fraud on the accreditation of driving licenses issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT).

The research was conducted by the Traffic Section of the OIJ, whose agents raided yesterday for five hours, the offices of the Accreditation Department of Driver Licenses, located in La Uruca, San Jose.

Police seized documents that prove the irregularities in the validation of these permits.

During the first 10 days of July were issued 493 accreditations. The authorities carried out a sample and found that at least half were granted without meeting the requirements.

Now, the OIJ summon all users processed without accreditation, licensing requirements for investigation of the crime of corrupting penalty, which punishes with imprisonment from two to six years who gives, offers or promises to a public official a gift or undue advantage.

For its part, will prosecute the officials who approved the illegitimate procedures in exchange for payment. They could face a sentence of two to eight years in prison for the crime of extortion, which punishes anyone who compels or induces someone unduly give or promise, for himself or for another, a good or a benefit assets.

According to the police investigation, some four officials conspired with a hawk to collect up to ¢ 250,000 per license. In one case, it was determined that the person paid ¢ 500,000.

Despite the evidence, the Prosecutor for Various Crimes did not request the detention of suspects.

This process allows an outsider who is already licensed in their country of origin to obtain country without making the theory course and test drive.

So too with the Costa Ricans who do not have permission to drive the MOPT, but have one issued by an authority of another country.

For accreditation you are required to submit passport, foreign license, medical opinion and a deposit of ¢ 4,000.

As reported by the OIJ, there is evidence that several officials from that office authorized the procedure to users without requiring the basic requirement of permission from another country or a passport.

That is, there were cases in which office issued the license to persons who had never left the country or never performed the test drive.

We attempted to check the version of Hugo Jiménez, director of road safety education, but yesterday was on vacation.

Omar Lizano, MOPT press officer, said: “This operation is part of a joint effort with the OIJ to eradicate pockets of corruption.”

During the search, the customer service was partially affected and suspended some quotes from the public.