CDL\’s fraud operation uncovered in Louisiana

Six people indicted in Louisiana for illegal CDL\’s sales scheme.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana has formally charged six individuals for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent scheme involving Class A commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), which allowed applicants to obtain licenses without meeting the legally established requirements. The defendants face charges related to wire fraud and bribery in federally funded programs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The scheme exploited a Louisiana state provision that allows third parties to administer certain evaluations required to obtain a CDL. Although this practice is regulated, third-party examiners must meet the same training and testing requirements as state employees. However, according to the indictment, the accused conspired to manipulate both the written and practical exams, enabling unqualified individuals to obtain licenses in exchange for illegal payments.

Illegal CDL’s sales scheme

According to information shared by FreightWaves, the federal investigation identified Mahmoud Alhattab, a local restaurant owner, as the central figure in the operation. Alhattab collected personal information and payments from individuals seeking to obtain a CDL without going through the legitimate process. How did he do it? Through bribes to state employees and driving school operators who helped falsify test results.

Among the accomplices identified by Louisiana authorities are Jenay Davis and Shakira Millien, employees of the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) in Donaldsonville. Both were accused of completing written exams on behalf of applicants and receiving payments from Alhattab in return.

But the fraud didn’t end there. The employees reportedly searched for answers online to ensure that the exams were passed, highlighting a high degree of negligence and lack of integrity in the process, according to authorities.

Alhattab is also accused of bribing Christopher Bryan Burns, the owner of a driving school, and two of his employees, Jonathan Parsons and Marline Roberts. The latter two were responsible for entering false information into the Commercial Skills Test Information Management System (CSTIMS), a federal database that records the results of commercial driving skill tests. The fraudulent input of scores into this system allowed applicants to illegally obtain commercial driver’s licenses.

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Charges for conspiracy and wire fraud

The six defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud. Additionally, Alhattab, Millien, and Parsons were charged with four additional counts of bribery related to federally funded programs, while Burns, Davis, and Roberts each face one similar count. In one documented case, an applicant paid as much as $6,500 for Alhattab’s services, and it was discovered that Parsons offered Roberts $400 to input false information into the system.

The case remains under investigation, and authorities warn that more individuals may be involved.

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