Estevao Semedo, Driver’s License Bribery, Massachusetts 2023

State: Massachusetts
Category: Public Corruption
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/local-driving-school-owner-pleads-guilty-drivers-license-bribery-scheme-brockton-rmv" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A brazen bribery scheme at the Brockton Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) has been exposed, with a local driving school owner taking the fall.

Estevao Semedo, 61, of Brockton, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who scheduled sentencing for August 1, 2023.

Semedo, the owner of a driving school, conspired to defraud the RMV into issuing driver’s licenses to applicants who did not pass the road test. Specifically, Semedo paid a road test examiner at the Brockton RMV service center to misrepresent to the RMV that certain driver’s license applicants had passed their road test when, in fact, they had not. Some of the applicants did not even show up to take the test.

As a result of the fraud, the RMV mailed driver’s licenses to unqualified applicants. In total, Semedo paid the road test examiner no less than $17,000 in bribes in exchange for fraudulent passing scores on road tests.

The charge of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The charging document also seeks a $17,000 forfeiture money judgment against Semedo.

Semedo was charged on March 2, 2023, and the investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigation’s Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF). Valuable assistance was provided by the Mattapoisett Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Wichers and Adam Deitch of U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins’ Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie Duane of Rollins’ Major Crimes Unit are prosecuting the case.

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