The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arrested three men of Cuban nationality on Wednesday, accused of operating a fraud scheme to pass the computerized Florida driver's license exam, according to an official statement from the agency published this Thursday.
The arrested individuals are Karel Clavel Beltrán, 46 years old and a resident of Hialeah; Miguel Núñez García, 47 years old and a resident of Miami; and Alexis Franc Fernández, 63 years old and a resident of Tampa.
The operation took place around 10:00 am at the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office located in the Midway Crossings shopping center at 7795 W. Flagler Street, and was conducted by detectives from the agency's Public Corruption Unit.
The MDSO statement specified that "Clavel Beltrán used strategically placed cameras and headphones to assist Mr. Miguel Núñez García and Mr. Alexis Fernández in cheating on the computerized driving license exam."
According to the arrest report accessed by Local 10, Clavel Beltrán was the mastermind behind the scheme: he provided the other two defendants with a polo shirt equipped with a hidden button camera and an earpiece, devices through which he transmitted the answers to the exam from outside the facility.
Núñez García arrived at the shopping center in a white truck, changed inside the vehicle into a purple polo shirt with hidden devices, took the exam, and passed it.
Upon leaving, he met with Clavel Beltrán inside the mall and handed him 600 dollars in cash as payment for the service, after which he changed clothes again.
It was at that moment when an officer from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles intercepted him.
Núñez García admitted to the authorities that he was carrying the electronic devices in his shirt and that Clavel Beltrán dictated the answers to him because he does not understand English, the language in which the exam has been administered since February 6.
According to the report, Núñez García had failed the exam multiple times before resorting to fraud.
Fernández's case followed the same pattern but with a different outcome: he was unable to pass the exam because he couldn't hear Clavel Beltrán through the headset.
Fernández was also carrying a sum of cash to pay Clavel Beltrán, but he was arrested by an investigator before he could do so.
The agents noted that it is a common practice in these fraud schemes for candidates to wear polo shirts to conceal recording devices and then change their clothes once the exam is over.
At the time of his arrest, Clavel Beltrán presented authorities with a Florida driver's license under a name different from his own, which added the charge of providing false name or identification following the arrest.
Fernández and Núñez García are facing charges for cheating and illegal use of a communication device, while Clavel Beltrán is also responding to charges of running an organized scheme to defraud.
The arrest comes amid growing concerns about fraud in licensing exams in Miami-Dade.
In June, the Tax Collector's Office detected a similar scheme involving concealed electronic devices, although no immediate arrests were made at that time.
A factor that has worsened the situation is the FLHSMV regulation that requires all exams to be taken exclusively in English, following the removal of versions in Spanish and other languages, which has increased the pressure on Spanish-speaking candidates who are not proficient in English, like the two defendants who took the exam on Wednesday.
In April, an employee of the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office, Waldersee Oge, 46 years old, was arrested for issuing fraudulent driver's licenses in exchange for payments via Zelle, without the physical presence of the clients.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office warned that "attempts to obtain a driver's license through fraud or deceit will not be tolerated, and those who attempt to evade the law will be investigated and held accountable."
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