Eight people are facing a total of 24 criminal charges after an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into alleged bribery during commercial driver tests in Kingston and the Greater Toronto Area.
An ongoing inquiry into issues within Ontario’s commercial licensing system has led to the arrests of eight individuals accused of giving or accepting bribes during road tests.
The eight individuals are collectively charged with 24 offenses under the Criminal Code following investigations into fraudulent activities tied to commercial driver examinations in Kingston and the Greater Toronto Area.
According to a release from OPP, in January 2024, at the request of the Ministry of Transportation, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation into suspected irregularities in the driver examination process for commercial Class A licenses in Ontario.
A commercial Class A license, commonly known as an AZ license in Ontario, is the highest-level unrestricted license needed to operate large tractor-trailers. It allows driving any combination of a motor vehicle and towed vehicles when the total weight of the towed vehicle exceeds 4,600 kg (10,000 lb).
As part of mandatory training, applicants must complete a Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) program that lasts at least 103.5 hours.
The applicant must be at least 18 years old, hold a valid Class G (or higher) license, pass a vision test, undergo a medical exam, and successfully complete both written and road tests.
“The SFO investigation revealed that bribes were facilitated in exchange for favourable consideration during specific applicants’ road examinations,” says the release.
Three of those charged are from Brampton. The others hail from Oshawa, Georgetown, North York, Kingston and Caledon.
The accused have been released from custody and are set to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on Thursday, January 28.
This isn’t the first time this industry has faced police scrutiny for fraud.
In 2019, six individuals were charged with fraud connected to a two-year investigation regarding allegations related to commercial motor vehicle driver training.
See: Charges laid in transport driver training fraud investigation
In that instance, an OPP inquiry uncovered three main elements of a serious fraudulent scheme:
use of an interpreter to fraudulently complete required licensing knowledge tests
non-Ontario residents applying for an Ontario driver’s licence
circumvention of the Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) standard
Investigators found over 200 cases where students engaged in various fraudulent activities to get their commercial vehicle licenses.
“The suspects allowed their foreign clients to obtain a class 5 (passenger vehicle) and possibly a class 1 (heavy goods vehicle) driver’s license using falsified documents,” said the OPP.
An additional scheme involved people running unlicensed schools offering unauthorized training to students across eastern Ontario and Quebec. Due to these unlicensed operations, six commercial motor vehicles were seized by investigators.
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