New rules aim to prevent fraud at DMV offices

CARSON CITY -- Steps have been taken to prevent any more DMV window clerks from accepting bribes in exchange for issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, the Nevada agency's director said Thursday.

"We do (think the new procedures are sufficient), but we always are on guard that somebody will try to beat the system," said Bruce Breslow, chief of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, after a meeting of the Legislature's Audit Subcommittee.

A legislative audit released Thursday criticized DMV for the initial steps it took following the May arrest of Nancy Brown, a window clerk at its Sahara Avenue office in Las Vegas.

Brown, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court in December to bribery charges. She faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and will be sentenced March 6. The U.S. Department of Justice charged her with unlawfully issuing 214 licenses to illegal immigrants between February 2010 and April 30, 2011. She admitted accepting bribes of $70,000 to $120,000.

Brown worked with outside parties who instructed the illegal immigrants to wait until she waved them to her window. She ultimately was caught after the Department of Homeland Security set up a camera to film her working.

The audit noted that after the arrest, the DMV set up a secondary review process so that at least two people had to give their authorization that the proper paperwork had been filed before an applicant could receive a driver's license. Legislative auditors, however, said they tested this review process in five different DMV offices and one office did not have an adequate system.

"As a result, an employee in the office could potentially perpetrate the same fraud (as Brown)," auditors stated.

They also said some employees would review the applicant's driving history and records in the DMV computer system, while others only looked at the application.

Auditors requested and Breslow has implemented written instructions for all employees to follow when they look at driver's license applications.

During the presentation, auditors also reported the DMV overproduced more than 1 million decals -- at a cost of $250,000 -- during the past four fiscal years. The decals are the stickers that drivers place on the corner of their license plates when they renew their registration each year.

Auditors said spreadsheets used by the DMV contained errors and over­estimated the number of decals needed. Instead printing decals for every office far ahead of time, auditors said each office should have enough produced to meet current demand. They also found several DMV offices could not properly account for thousands of the decals they received. Under current procedures, they said clerks could lose or misplace 20 decals and the agency would not be aware they are missing.

Breslow accepted that recommendation and said he is looking at various ways to have decals printed in each office. He added that when he visits the DMV's 18 offices he personally makes sure all decals are kept under lock and key.

"I look at audits as a learning tool," Breslow said. "The message has been delivered."

But Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, was not happy with another audit finding: That the DMV has not collected more than $600,000 due from 1,500 citations made by its Motor Carrier Division for trucking violations. Most date from 2010.

Carlton noted if she did not pay a citation for a violation, then a bench warrant would be issued for her arrest and she would end up in jail. She questioned why others should be given a break that average drivers don't receive.

"We were short-handed," Breslow said.

He said fines already have been collected on 500 of the citations and the backlog will be cleared up by June 30.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.