Black Market Licenses Lead To 40 Indictments
New Jersey authorities say 40 people, including six former clerks at the state Motor Vehicle Commission, participated in a ring that illegally sold New Jersey’s digital driver licenses that were explicitly designed to guard against fraud.
The state Attorney General’s office says the ring sold licenses mostly to foreign nationals who were not eligible to receive them for $2,500 to $7,000 apiece.
Those charged include 21 customers and 13 intermediaries who would drum up business.
The new licenses are harder to get, in part, because they require numerous different forms of identification to establish a person’s identity. Authorities say the ring let customers bypass those requirements and pay cash for a license.
The ring operated at motor vehicle offices in Lodi, East Orange, Edison, Jersey City, and North Bergen.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
The following defendants were charged in the indictments related to the alleged criminal license brokering rings involving clerks at the five motor vehicle agencies: (Attorney General’s office)
LODI MOTOR VEHICLE AGENCY
MVC Clerk
Anne Marie Manfredonia, 43, of Little Ferry
Broker
Hildeberto Salinas, 43, of Carlstadt
Customers
1. Abraham Chali, aka Carlos Jacobo, 26, of Cliffside Park
2. Miguel G. Sacoto, 35, of Jersey City
3. Melvin Lita, aka Arben Lita, 33, of Fair Lawn
4. (Juan) Pablo Gavilanez, 26, of Irvington
5. Jose Pelaez, 26, of Bloomfield
6. Gustavo Pamavilla, 22, of Irvington
7. Roberto Yumbla, 27, of Irvington
8. Ana Altamirano, 39, of Newark
9. Ariolfo Altamirano, 42, of Newark
10. Luz Alvarez, 32, of Hackensack
11. Omar Avila, 33, of Newark
12. Claudio Angamarca, 26, of Newark
13. Aurelio Aju-Chitic, 31, of Fairview
14. Sandra Avendano-Marin, 26, South Hackensack
EAST ORANGE MOTOR VEHICLE AGENCY
Indictment #1
MVC Clerk
Laquanda Murray, 28, of Newark
Middlemen
Jason P. Thomas, 28, of Irvington, a former MVC clerk
Tyrone Q. Canada, 26, of Hillside, a former MVC clerk
Brokers
Martin A. Martinez, 53, of Newark. In a separate case, Martinez was indicted on Nov. 10 on first-degree charges of conspiracy and money laundering as a result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice into an alleged conspiracy to defraud the federally funded Women, Infants and Children nutrition program of more than $1 million using fraudulent vouchers.
Antonio Vasquez, 40, of Hillside
Runners
1. Virginia Martinez, 41, of Somerville
2. Guillermo “Willie” Prieto, 50, of North Bergen
3. Rogerio DaSilva, 36, of Cliffside
4. Gustavo Valencia, 68, of Morris Township
5. Domingos Bonela, 48, of Kenilworth
Indictment # 2
MVC Clerk
Rashaan A. Smith, 31, of Irvington
Middlemen
Jason P. Thomas (also charged in East Orange Indictment #1 above)
Tyrone Q. Canada (also charged in East Orange Indictment #1 above)
EDISON MOTOR VEHICLE AGENCY
Brokers
Gustavo Valencia, 68, of Morris Township (also charged in East Orange Indictment #1 above)
Martha Jalil, 54, of Dover
Ricardo Jalil, 63, of Dover (Martha’s husband)
Customers
1. Delmis Urquia, 43, of Hackettstown
2. Fredy H. Quiroga-Cobos, 34, of Dover
3. Jaime E. Espinoza, 38, of Dover
4. Constantino Grandados-Hernandez, 41, of Dover
5. Julio C. Rios-Elejalde, 33, of Wharton
6. Carlos R. Ramirez-Yepes, 52, of Morristown
JERSEY CITY MOTOR VEHICLE AGENCY
MVC Clerks
Sonia Noel, 48, of Union City
Melody Noel, 26, of Union City (Sonia’s daughter)
Broker
Peter Loveras, 32, of East Rutherford
Customer
Hernan Chica, 53, of Hackensack
NORTH BERGEN MOTOR VEHICLE AGENCY
Clerk
Cristian J. Toledo, 33, of North Bergen