Sheffield driving tests: Fraudster charged learner drivers up to £1,500 to take driving theory tests for them
A serial fraudster who charged learner drivers up to £1,500 a time to take driving theory tests for them targeted Sheffield, a court heard.
Satwinder Singh, aged 34, took at least 36 tests[1] - which cost just £23 - for non-English speakers over a four-year period. The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) even issued pictures of Singh to centres as a warning while he travelled to test sites up and down the country.
He was finally arrested on June 6 this year after he was recognised while trying to take an exam in Reading, Berkshire. He was found to be holding a driving licence under the name of Amritpal Singh.
Singh, of Swansea, admitted the specific offences of impersonating genuine test candidates for payment at Pearson and Reed test centres. He also admitted possessing an article, a driving licence, for use in fraud[2].
A serial fraudster who charged learner drivers up to £1,500 a time to take driving theory tests for them targeted Sheffield, a court heard.
He accepted he had intended to deceive staff into believing he was Amritpal Singh in order to take a driving theory test under that name. Singh also asked for 35 other similar offences to be taken into consideration ahead of his sentencing.
The other test centres he targeted were in locations including Manchester[3], Sheffield, Southgate, Oxford, Aylesbury, Guildford, Staines and Bristol. Magistrates in Reading, Berkshire, sent his case to crown court for sentencing at a later date.
He was bailed on the condition that he does not attend any Reed or Pearson driving theory test centres. The DVSA released a gallery of CCTV stills showing Singh posing as candidates at various test centres after his magistrates' court appearance.
He faces up to 10 years in jail. The case follows similar instances across the country, including Salim Basalim, 32, who admitted twelve counts of fraud and received a year in jail for taking tests.
Bolton Crown Court heard how he'd travelled to Bangor, Leeds, Preston and Finchley, North London, before he was finally cornered and sentenced in December last year. Another man, Mohammad Shoaib, 38, was given a community order after paying a 'ringer' £800 to take a test for him after he failed it 14 times.
A DVSA spokesperson said: "Driving test fraud is a serious offence, and we're working closely with social media companies and other agencies to crack down and prosecute those attempting to cheat the system."