Eleven individuals have been arrested and charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme to evade tolls, parking, and traffic tickets using fraudulently obtained temporary license plates, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced.
The defendants are accused of conspiring for over five years to use "temp tags" to avoid fees, tolls, and parking and traffic tickets, depriving New York State and New York City of millions in revenue. The scheme allegedly involved creating sham auto dealerships in New Jersey and Georgia to generate more than 100,000 fraudulent temporary vehicle registrations, which were then sold for $50 to $250 per tag, yielding millions in profits.
These fraudulent tags are linked to approximately $11.8 million in unpaid parking and traffic tickets in New York City and at least $3.1 million in unpaid E-ZPass tolls across New York State. Furthermore, the temporary tags issued by these dealerships were reportedly involved in about 1,200 incidents reported to the NYPD, including at least six homicides.
All eleven defendants—Felix DeJesus Jimenez, Julio Frias, Bladimir Tomas Valdez, Ramon Eligio DeJesus Peralta, Alba Nellys Rodriguez Gonzalez, Jefrey Raphael Herrera Espinal, Sammy Rodriguez Francisco, Xavier Rodriguez Francisco, Clarisa Rodriguez Francisco, Cindy Rey, and Luciano Moises Estrella—face charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and access device fraud. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said, "Their schemes deprived New York State and New York City of millions of dollars in revenue. Hard-working, honest New Yorkers were footing their bills."
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle added, "Investigations found approximately a total of $15 million in unpaid parking violations, tolls, and vehicle registrations." The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.