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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Antony Thrower

Serial fraudster charged up to £1,500 to take driving theory tests for learner drivers

A serial fraudster earned tens of thousands of pounds from learner drivers as he travelled up and down the country taking their theory tests, a court heard.

Satwinder Singh, 34, took the £23 tests for 36 non-English speakers over a four-year period, taking £1,500 a time.

He was arrested on June 6 this year when he was recognised while trying to take an exam in Reading, Berkshire and holding a driving licence under the name of Amritpal Singh.

Singh, of Swansea, admitted the specific offences of impersonating genuine test candidates for payment at Person and Reed test centres.

He also admitted possessing an article, a driving licence, for use in fraud.

Singh faces a decade behind bars when he is sentenced (DVSA / SWNS)
Santwinder Singh ompleted tests for other people as part of an organised crime operation (DVSA / SWNS)

The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) had issued pictures of Singh to centres as a warning as he travelled to test sites up and down the country.

He accepted he had intended to deceive staff into believing he was Amritpal Singh in order to take a driving theory test under that name.

Singh also asked for 35 other similar offences to be taken into consideration ahead of his sentencing.

The other test centres he targeted included Manchester, Sheffield, Southgate, Oxford, Aylesbury, Guildford, Staines and Bristol.

Magistrates in Reading, sent his case to crown court for sentencing at a later date and faces up to ten years in jail.

He was bailed on the condition he does not attend any Reeds or Pearson driving theory test centres.

The DVSA released a gallery of CCTV stills showing Singh posing as candidates at various test centres after his magistrates' court appearance.

A DVSA spokesperson said: “Driving test fraud is a serious offence, and we’re working closely with social media companies and other agencies to crack down and prosecute those attempting to cheat the system.”

The case follows similar instances across the country, including Salim Basalim, 32, who admitted twelve counts of fraud and received a year in jail for taking tests.

Bolton Crown Court heard how he had travelled to Bangor, Leeds, Preston and Finchley, North London, before he was finally cornered and sentenced in December last year.

Another man, Mohammad Shoaib, 38, was given a community order after paying a ‘ringer’ £800 to take a test for him after he failed it 14 times.

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