Chapala Transito Commandant Hector Magaña warns lakeside motorists to avoid hiring third parties to handle their business at his office and to think twice before trying to pass off copies of their driver permits when dealing with officers who stop them for traffic violations.
He reports that an expatriate resident was recently arrested while attempting to renew a Jalisco license that was easily detected as a fake. The applicant claimed innocence, saying he had obtained the permit through a local legal advisor who charged him more than 20,000 pesos to act as an intermediary.Nonetheless, the man is now facing criminal charges for forgery of an official document, as confirmed to the Reporter this week by an agent at the Chapala Ministerio Publico (MP) district attorney‘s office.
The official revealed that the defendant declared he had paid the intermediary to process his driver’s permit along with the legalization of a motorcycle. Apparently the paperwork on the bike never came through and forensic examination has proved that the license is bogus. According to the MP, the foreigner was released from jail after posting bond. However, if convicted of a criminal act, he stands to serve a three- to five-year sentence. His legal advisor is reportedly already behind bars in relation to other cases of fraud.