5 arrested in L.A. area in illegal driver's license case

August 31, 2011 | 9:36pm

California Department of Motor Vehicles investigators and Los Angeles police Wednesday arrested five people suspected of producing fake driver's licenses and identification cards and selling unauthorized licenses.

The people, two of them former DMV employees, were arrested in two separate actions as investigators and police served search warrants in Venice, Pacific Palisades, West Hollywood, San Marino and Monrovia, authorities said.

Investigators from the DMV discovered that the former employees were allegedly selling fake licenses to customers willing to pay for written and driving tests, DMV Director George Valverde said in a statement.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the scheme endangered motorists.

"The illegal operation we shut down," Beck said in a statement, "was putting dangerous drivers on the road."

Authorities identified three of those arrested as Peter Scott Singer, 26, of Monrovia; Todd Terrazas, 24, of West Hollywood; and Lawrence Benjamin Goldstein, 22, of Los Angeles.
The two former DMV employees were identified as Carlos Ku, 28, of Los Angeles; and Alejandro Rubalcava, 31, of Bellflower.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... enses.html