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non-English speaking drivers

 
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Jimbo



Age: 72
Joined: 13 Apr 2010
Posts: 192
Location: Greenport, NY

PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:45 am    Post subject: non-English speaking drivers Reply with quote

The following article explains it all ! If you have ever been where bus drivers stop and eat (like a rest area on the Garden State Parkway) this explains why some drivers have trouble communicating with the fast food check out person.

Death on wheels: Alleged hi-tech scammers charged for cheating DMV for licenses

The high-tech hustle helped unqualified bus and big-rig drivers land licenses to kill, prosecutors said.

By Larry Mcshane AND John Marzulli / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

A Brooklyn couple was busted in a high-tech hustle that helped unqualified bus and big-rig drivers land licenses to kill.

The decade-long scam operated by Phillip Ng and his wife came with a money-back guarantee for anyone shelling out $1,800 for the right answers to a written state driving test, prosecutors said. The test - applicants had to score 80% to pass - covered topics like passenger safety, air brakes and general knowledge, court records show.

One of the drivers linked to the business owned by the Hong Kong immigrants was behind the wheel of a Chinatown-bound bus when it crashed and killed four people in Virginia last year, authorities said.

"The defendants' conduct appears to have had deadly consequences," Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Tuchmann said in court papers.

The bold couple bragged to an undercover federal agent about the ease and beauty of their unprecedented, long-running con.

"He will teach you what to do. . . . You won't have to worry about it," promised Pui Ng, 47.

Her husband recalled the deceit had failed just once: When the World Trade Center terror attacks knocked out local wireless service on 9/11.

The undercover, speaking in Mandarin, presented himself as a wanna-be driver who spoke little English before Ng drove him to a state Department of Motor Vehicles office in Staten Island.

The plan was straightforward: The undercover agent recounted how Ng had him don a "varsity-style" jacket and attach a beeper to his belt on the morning of Feb. 1.

A minicamera was hidden inside a sleeve on the coat, and it beamed the test questions to a video screen inside Ng's minivan, authorities charged.

The scam's frontman was paid in cash for providing the multiple-choice answers via the beeper: Two buzzes for A, four for B and six for C.

Investigators continued to hunt for cheating test-takers, with the intention of pulling the illegally licensed drivers off the road.

Ng, a naturalized U.S. citizen, boasted about his long history of duping state DMV workers.

"I've helped people with the written test for more than 10 years," Ng told the undercover before helping him nail a glowing 86 out of 95 questions on the exam.

According to court papers, the investigation found that potentially "hundreds of drivers" who couldn't read or speak English were issued commercial licenses by the state of New York.

The drivers needed to pass a road test once they passed the written test and paid $12.50 for a commercial driving permit.

Authorities said at least 720 people in the last 26 months took their road tests in vehicles registered to the Ngs' business, state-licensed N&Y Professional Service Line.

Included in that number was King Yiu Cheng, 37, who was driving north on Interstate 95 on May 31, 2011, when his bus crashed. Four people were killed and dozens injured in the wreck after Cheng fell asleep at the wheel.

Cheng faces manslaughter charges in Virginia. Prosecutors said he was likely a student at the N&Y Professional Service Line because he showed up for the driving test in one of their buses.

"I'm not aware of any evidence that the driver involved in the Virginia accident cheated on his test in any way," said lawyer Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, who represents Phillip Ng.

But U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said the couple showed a wanton disregard for life and limb. They sent dangerous drivers onto the streets - some behind the wheels of 12-ton buses carrying dozens of people.

"The defendants put the public - passengers, pedestrians and drivers alike - at grave risk to line their own pockets," Lynch said.

Ng and his wife, the parents of three, face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on federal conspiracy to commit mail fraud charges in the case.

She was released on $500,000 bond, while her husband was held pending a hearing next Wednesday. The DMV was moving to suspend their business license.
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Jimbo



Age: 72
Joined: 13 Apr 2010
Posts: 192
Location: Greenport, NY

PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And more of the story...

GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES THE LICENSE SUSPENSION OF DRIVING SCHOOL AT CENTER OF FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

Customers of N&Y Professional Service Line Driving School Must be Retested Immediately or Face Suspension, State Continues Crackdown on Bus Safety.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the license of N&Y Professional Service Line (N&Y) driving school is being suspended after the owners were charged with fraud. As a result, the 174 people who used N&Y to obtain commercial drivers' licenses must immediately schedule retests to demonstrate their qualifications or face suspension.

The school's owners, Ying Wai Phillip Ng and Pui Kuen Ng, who are married, were charged last week with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with the operation of the driving school. The couple allegedly fraudulently assisted an undercover agent in passing a written commercial drivers' license permit test through the use of an elaborate system using a hidden camera and pager.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has identified the commercial drivers' license holders who were customers of the N&Y driving school. The DMV is notifying them that they must be retested immediately or their licenses will be suspended. Failure to call the DMV by this Friday to schedule a retest will result in an immediate suspension of their commercial drivers' license.

"We vowed last year that New York would not tolerate unsafe buses, dangerous or unqualified drivers, or fraud in obtaining licenses, and that's why this action is being taken," Governor Cuomo said. "Since then, we have added 20 additional Department of Transportation motor carrier investigators to police the motor coach industry and we have intensified inspections of vehicles and drivers at the roadside and in the garages. And, as I directed last spring, our state agencies continue working with law enforcement agencies to help ensure that New Yorkers can have confidence in their public transportation system."

Governor Cuomo noted that from March 2011 through January 2012, the state conducted more than 6,600 inspections, and as a result took 621 buses and 644 drivers off the road pending the correction of license or equipment shortcomings.

In May 2011 and August 2011, investigations conducted by the DMV led to the arrest of a total of nearly 100 commercial drivers' license holders, including bus drivers, for fraudulently obtaining multiple drivers' licenses by using aliases. Those arrests were the result of the DMV's use of facial recognition technology.

Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Barbara Fiala said, "Keeping our highways safe is the highest priority of this Department and our partner agencies, including the State Police and the Department of Transportation."

The DMV will continue to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security in the investigation of N&Y driving school.
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 2:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Makes you wonder how many other operations there are like this across the country. When I drove cab for a while, we had a contract with a major trucking company to transport trainees from the local Trailways station to the trucking company. I heard a lot of horror stories about their training program from their drivers. Teach them the bare minimum needed to get their CDL and send them over the road. On a side note... half of them could barely speak English.
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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 6:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JimmiB -

What is quite alarming being: Wherever to they find the people who start up and run such sleazy businesses?
We can do without those who think they are to get rich with a bus or truck line! These folks are just bad actors,
and without any "moral compass" or scruples...

Better they should try "quick buck" deals in other trades, which can't cause great harm to others?

.......................Vern......................
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is what happens when sheeple don't care
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