Nine men, including two officials, were sentenced Wednesday in Bobigny to terms of 12 to 18 months in prison for having set up in the Paris region a vast network of fraudulent driving licenses.
Read also: A parliamentary report presents 55 recommendations to stem social fraud
The network, which had been rife for several years, was dismantled in November 2019 after a year of investigation carried out by cyber-investigators from the Paris judicial police under the direction of the Bobigny prosecutor's office.
On Snapchat, two of the defendants proposed "
a safe permit plan via driving school
" guaranteeing the obtaining of the highway code for 1,500 euros and 4,000 euros for driving.
In addition to occasional touts, two driving school instructors from Val-de-Marne recruited clients from among their students.
Candidates for fraud were directed to a driving school in Seine-Saint-Denis, the managers of which were responsible for having two driving license inspectors validate the fictitious code or driving examinations in the computer system of the Ministry of 'Interior.
The beneficiaries, estimated at several hundred, then obtained an official driving license.
The nine organizers of the fraud were prosecuted for organized gang fraud, corruption, influence peddling, fraudulent obtaining of administrative documents, money laundering and tax evasion.
Most have also been fined and some have been sentenced to ban management and professional practice in connection with driving instruction.
Finally, most of the property and funds seized were confiscated as additional penalties.
