Gardaí smash gang paid to sit driver theory tests in fake licence scam

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Four people have been arrested in relation to a nationwide organised scam in which they were paid large amounts of money to sit the driver theory test for others.

People were paid to sit the driving theory test for others© Provided by Independent.ie

This has enabled people to obtain a learner permit, which they use to drive unlawfully on Irish roads.

Investigations have established the targeted criminals have sat 114 theory tests in other people’s names in RSA centres throughout Ireland.

Following a lengthy investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB), the four suspects were arrested in the Dublin 15 area yesterday morning.

In one case, a person paid one of the suspects €1,500 to sit their theory test

They were taken to Kevin Street and Irishtown garda stations, where they were questioned last night over conspiracy to commit serious offences under anti-gangland legislation.

The permits can be used to open bank accounts to be used in criminality© Provided by Independent.ie

The four are aged between 22 and 41 and are suspected of using social media and word of mouth to make contact with clients who paid them to sit the tests.

Most of their customers are understood to be foreign nationals.

“The huge concern with this is that there are up to 114 people driving on our roads without having a relevant learner permit to do so,” a source said. “This is a serious safety issue.”

Learner permits were previously known as provisional driving licences.

GNECB investigations have established that in one case, a person paid one of the arrested suspects €1,500 to sit their theory test, while others paid €1,000.

The going rate for the scam is unknown, because most of the criminal transactions are believed to have been made in cash and there is no trace of them.

Some of the people who bought the learner permits have been arrested and prosecuted for possession of a false instrument.

Detectives plan to arrest a fifth suspect in the case, who is currently serving a jail sentence for blackmailing a teenage girl.

This person was previously arrested in July 2021 as part of the same GNECB investigation, as was a 41-year-old woman who was in custody last night. Sources said the pair are classified as ringleaders.

As part of a separate case, the 41-year-old was previously fined for using a false driving licence at a test centre in Dublin.

On that occasion, she admitted producing a false provisional driving licence at a test centre, which she was hoping to use to pass the test – and then sell the full licence.

Both these suspects were released without charge after their arrests in the 2021 raids, in which 19 searches were carried out and nine driving permits seized.

On that occasion, fraud squad officers were backed up by local gardaí in searching locations in counties Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Roscommon, Cavan and Louth.

Gardaí continued to investigate and analyse devices and documents seized in these raids, which led them to identify three other men allegedly involved in the scam who were arrested yesterday at their west Dublin homes.

“In more sinister cases, these permits can be used to help in staged accident situations, and also to open bank accounts to be used in criminality,” a garda source added.

It is understood the arrested suspects are from Romania or Poland.