Driving School Owner Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud RMV

BOSTON – A Brockton man was arrested today on charges that he bribed a road test examiner to issue driver’s licenses to individuals who did not pass or even take road tests at the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in Brockton.

Carlos Cardoso, 70, was indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in Boston on five counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud. He will appear in federal court in Boston at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

According to the indictment, Cardoso, the owner of a driving school, paid cash bribes totaling $20,000 - $30,000 to 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. It is alleged that 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.

The charge of honest services mail fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. 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 fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.  

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; and Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Wichers and Adam Deitch of the Public Corruption & Special Prosecutions Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.