Indian-American Man Sentenced to 19 Months in DMV Bribery and Identity Fraud Case

An Indian-American owner of Mid-California truck-driving school in Modesto, California, has been sentenced to 19 months in prison for his involvement in Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) bribery and identity fraud case, reported The Modesto Bee.

Department of Justice’s U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento issued a press release on Nov.23 to give out the information of the sentence given to 61-year-old Kulwinder Dosanjh “Sodhi” Singh.

Singh and Emma Klem (48), a former employee of the California Department of Motor Vehicles had pleaded guilty in 2015 for bribery and identity-related fraud.

An earlier release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento had said that both of them had conspired with others to obtain “CDL (Commercial Driver’s Licences) for individuals who had not taken or passed the necessary DMV examinations in return for payment of money to employees of the DMV (bribery), and to produce identification documents without lawful authority (ID fraud).”

As per the report of The Modesto Bee, Singh had told this California based newspaper in 2015, “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done it, it ruined my life.” He had told the publication that his role was limited to a single incident and was not extended further. He was referring to his involvement in assisting a driver to obtain a driving license illegally in 2013.

The paper referred a DOJ news release, which indicates his extended involvement. It says Sodhi “acted as a broker to assist individuals in obtaining Class A, Class B, and Class C licenses.”

Singh’s case is not the only one case in such fraudulence. It was found that DMV employees were conspiring with driving school owners or brokers to issue licenses or permits without the mandatory tests of the applicants.