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They provided the candidates with driving licenses and/or driver qualification certificates, falsely certifying the candidates’ participation in the planned (mandatory) training course and having, as part of the required qualification exams, equipped the candidates with microcameras and earphones miniaturized devices connected to an external prompter.
A precautionary custody order in prison, two house arrest orders and an obligation to report to the judicial police were notified as part of the police, provincial police and military operation of the Economic-Financial Police Unit of Brescia against an alleged round of irregular driving licences.
The driving school of Brescia
The precautionary measures are added to the other four measures already carried out in September 2023, against individuals deemed to be members of the same association. The investigations, the police say, revealed the involvement, as the “chief promoter” of the association, of a man from Brescia, owner of four driving schools, who would have worked, together with his associates, in this alleged illicit system.
The investigation activity originates from a series of interventions carried out by traffic police officers in the civil motor vehicle service where dozens of candidates of different ethnic groups were found in possession of electronic equipment suitable for receiving suggestions from outside and were therefore reported on the loose. During a subsequent search of the owner of four driving schools, the provincial police had already found over a million euros in unaccounted cash. After investigations by the soldiers of the Brescia Economic-Financial Police Unit, a disproportion between the declared incomes and the assets owned emerged and the money was thus preventively seized.
Corruption
The investigation made it possible to charge the suspect and his supporters with the crime of criminal association, corruption, incitement to corruption and numerous forgery of public documents. The special crime of taking driving tests through suggestion systems was also contested, as well as allegations of extortion on candidates. There are more than 60 suspects in total: including those who, unduly, took advantage of the illicit service in order to obtain, according to the prosecution’s theory, irregular driving licences, without having to take the exams themselves or without attending onerous and long compulsory training courses. training to obtain the special license for heavy vehicles. The searches are underway, also conducted with the technical-operational support of the Central Organized Crime Investigation Service with the use of modern technological instruments and two “cash dog” canine units of the financial police to search for cash.
