<![CDATA[NBC 5 Investigates – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth]]> Copyright 2023 https://www.nbcdfw.com https://media.nbcdfw.com/2019/09/DFW_On_Light@3x.png?fit=411%2C120&quality=85&strip=all NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth https://www.nbcdfw.com en_US Mon, 01 May 2023 02:41:23 -0500 Mon, 01 May 2023 02:41:23 -0500 NBC Owned Television Stations State Troopers Intensify Fake Inspection Crackdown As DPS Director Demands Technology to Stop Fraud https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/state-troopers-intensify-fake-inspection-crackdown-as-dps-director-demands-technology-to-stop-fraud/3245991/ 3245991 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/04/texas-dps-tim-mcgraw-2.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Dozens of Texas State Troopers and Department of Public Safety regulatory investigators hit the streets of Dallas and surrounding cities on Wednesday and Thursday trying to locate some of the more than 700 vehicle inspectors the department now suspects are involved in faking vehicle safety and emissions inspections.

Inspectors tied to state-licensed inspection shops are suspected of taking cash in exchange for falsely passing cars.

DPS officials said at least five arrests had been made so far, and more than two dozen inspection stations had been locked out of the state system.

Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview at DPS headquarters in Austin, DPS Director Steven McCraw told NBC 5 Investigates he is frustrated that the state’s lack of technology to prevent the fraud has created extra work for law enforcement.

“It forces us to divert resources from high priority matters to lower priority matters just for a period of time so we can have an impact,” McCraw told NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman.

As a series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates has shown, the state’s vehicle inspection computer system – overseen by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, is not programmed to prevent an inspector from issuing a false passing report even though the system captures data – red flags – suggesting many inspections are fake.

In the weeks since we started asking questions, the TCEQ has activated a feature in the computer that at least locks out some inspectors after they are suspected of running multiple fake inspections.

NBC 5 Investigates has learned from TCEQ officials that the feature was created more than 10 years ago, but was never activated. 

In a statement, TCEQ said DPS did not ask them to turn it on until last month.

DPS told NBC 5 it was not aware the feature existed.

McCraw acknowledged Thursday that some of the current problems could have been headed off if those lockouts had been put in place a decade ago.

“Absolutely, there’s no question about it,” McCraw said.

Since the lockouts were put in place, DPS said more than 100 inspectors had been prevented from accessing the system.

McCraw said, going forward, his agency is working with TCEQ to assure that more technology changes will be made to stem the tide of fake inspections.

“It could have been done. It should have been done. It’s going to be done,” McCraw said.

Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw

But in order to prevent vehicle inspectors from falsely passing cars in real-time – instead of after the fact – TCEQ said it would also have to modify the emissions analyzer software. 

In a statement, the agency told NBC 5, “Until this change is made these (falsely inspected) vehicles will still receive their inspection report at the end of the inspection.”

That allows the car to get Texas plates even though it never really passed.

McCraw is calling on the TCEQ to make that software change now to help cut the number of stations and inspectors his agency needs to investigate.

“And, the sooner they can do that, the better,” McCraw said.

“I’m confident they want the same thing as we do. And I can assure you that the both of us will be working towards that end,” McCraw told NBC 5.

But in a statement Thursday, TCEQ said it had not decided yet whether it will make the change McCraw is requesting.

“The TCEQ is having discussions with DPS about possible ways to enhance the enforcement tools for the I/M (inspection & maintenance) program. However, no decision has been made and the TCEQ is not modifying the analyzer software at this time,” the statement said.

For now, DPS troopers often have to manually search inspection data to identify locations suspected of falsely passing cars, and then visit them to conduct surveillance to see if the business is passing cars that are not really at the shop. Experts say stations conducting fraudulent inspections can now use emissions system simulators or surrogate cars to falsify an inspection, and the vehicle that passes doesn’t even have to visit the shop.

NBC 5 Investigates rode along with some of the state troopers deployed on the inspection enforcement operation in Dallas this week.

At several locations, troopers found the inspection business they were looking for was not at its registered address, and neither was the emissions analyzer device the department suspects is being used to conduct fake inspections.

McCraw said this highlights the challenges of investigations after the fact, versus cutting off the bad actors at the start of the process.

“That’s why I talked about prevention on the front end”, McCraw said. “Because If the business is not there, or the business is there, but the inspector is not there and he’s off-site, there’s no way to triangulate exactly where they’re at. So it’s very difficult from an enforcement standpoint.”

fake inspections real plates Mar 29

Texas DPS Director Pledges to Help Fix Fake Vehicle Inspection Security Gap

fake inspections real plates Mar 30

DPS Steps Up Fake Vehicle Inspection Crackdown Following NBC 5 Investigation

fake inspections real plates Mar 23

Texas Lawmakers Push for Action After NBC 5 Investigation Details Claims of Widespread Vehicle Inspection Fraud

]]> Thu, Apr 27 2023 09:48:52 PM NBC 5 Investigates Wins 2023 Walter Cronkite Award for Streaming Series ‘Against All Enemies' https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/nbc-5-investigates-wins-2023-walter-cronkite-award-for-streaming-series-against-all-enemies/3240969/ 3240969 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/04/cronkite-awards.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates’ streaming series, “Against All Enemies,” has been awarded a prestigious Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

In “Against All Enemies,” NBC 5 Investigates explores how a group with ties to the Oath Keepers trains law enforcement officers to follow an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution that some legal experts call false and dangerous.  

The NBC 5 Investigates team, led by Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman, Senior Investigative Producer Eva Parks and Investigative Photojournalist Edward Ayala along with Photojournalist Mike Ortiz, Executive Producer Bonnie Moon, Researcher Don Peritz and Editor Ian Chapoy, spent months on the project.

“NBC 5 Investigates team obtained exclusive interviews and uncovered new documents for ‘Against All Enemies.’ We are honored to receive this national recognition for our commitment to in-depth, investigative journalism,” said John Stone, NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 Vice President of News.

The “Against All Enemies” series was the first report to shine light on the full scale of training sessions being held by the group tied to the Oath Keepers in Texas.  Questions from NBC 5 Investigates triggered a state agency to open a new investigation into those trainings happening across the state.

“At a time when journalists are fighting a tidal wave of disinformation and misinformation,” said Martin Kaplan, Director of the Norman Lear Center, “it’s incredibly heartening to honor these examples of superlative work by indefatigable TV reporters and producers from the national to the local level.” 

“Against All Enemies” is available for audiences to stream now. Go to NBCDFW.com/AgainstAllEnemies for help finding the series on Roku, FireTV and SamsungTV Plus. For additional help, go to NBCDFW.com/everywhere. You can also watch the series on NBCDFW.com and the NBCDFW mobile app below.

]]> Thu, Apr 20 2023 11:51:34 AM Bill to Eliminate Paper Tags Advances in Texas House https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/bill-to-eliminate-paper-tags-advances-in-texas-house/3231305/ 3231305 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2021/09/Texas-Capitol.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas House Transportation Committee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would eliminate paper temporary license plates in Texas.

The bill would require a switch to metal plates instead in an effort to stop widespread problems with fraudulent paper tags often sold illegally online.

A yearlong NBC 5 investigation exposed how criminals use fraudulent paper plates to evade police while smuggling drugs and even committing violent crimes.

In the wake of our reporting, lawmakers called for changes in the state’s temporary tag system. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles also made leadership changes and cracked down on small state-licensed car dealers involved in illegally selling real paper tags from the DMV’s online temporary tag system.

But, as more problem dealers were shut down, police say counterfeiters have stepped in to meet the demand for knock-off paper plates, which authorities say are easy to spoof because they come in a simple PDF document format.

The fake plates are also purchased by drivers with cars that cannot pass inspection or do not have insurance, according to law enforcement officials.

At a House Transportation Committee hearing last week, Grand Prairie Police Chief Daniel Scesney was among those testifying in support of the bill. Scesney has been outspoken in his frustration with paper tags, following the death of Grand Prairie Police Officer Brandon Tsai who was killed in a crash while pursuing a suspect with a fraudulent paper tag.

House Bill 718, which would eliminate paper tags, was authored by State Rep. Craig Goldman from Forth Worth. The bill is now expected to head to the House floor in the next several weeks. State Sen. Royce West from Dallas has introduced an identical bill in the Senate.

paper tag nation Mar 29

Texas Officers Show Support for Bill Eliminating Temporary Paper License Plates

paper tag nation Mar 27

Texas DMV's New Paper Tag Design Easily Counterfeited, Police Say

nbc 5 investigates Feb 7

NBC 5 Wins 2023 duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Series ‘Paper Tag Nation'

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, Apr 05 2023 06:39:39 PM Texas DPS Director Pledges to Help Fix Fake Vehicle Inspection Security Gap https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dps-director-pledges-to-help-fix-fake-vehicle-inspection-security-gap/3226038/ 3226038 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/texas-dps-false-inspections.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw is promising to help fix a major security gap in the state’s vehicle inspection program, a gap first exposed in an exclusive report from NBC 5 Investigates.

Our reporting showed how some state-licensed vehicle inspection stations are taking cash in exchange for falsely passing cars — and the state’s computer system does nothing to flag the fake inspections and prevent those cars from getting real Texas license plates.

Cars that were never checked, and may be unsafe on the road.

A group of Travis County law enforcement investigators told NBC 5 Investigates their own analysis of state data showed as many as five million cars on Texas roads had “clean scans” — fake inspections — where someone pays a state-licensed inspector to falsely pass an emissions test and skip the safety checks on things like the brakes and tires.

Making things worse, NBC 5 Investigates discovered the state inspection computer system maintained by TCEQ captures data showing many inspections are fake but does not stop those cars from falsely passing.

For weeks, NBC 5 has requested interviews with the heads of two state agencies in charge of the inspection system, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, to know why the computer system is not programmed to help prevent fraud.

Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw said he understood the computer system is contributing to the problems and pledged that his agency would work to be part of the solution.

“We’ve got an obligation to enforce it, whether the system’s working or not, and I’m quite confident that we work very closely with TCEQ that we can get this vulnerability taken care of,” McCraw said.

The TCEQ maintains the inspection computer system while DPS enforces the inspection rules.

McCraw spoke with NBC 5 Investigates in the halls of the state capitol, where we approached him to seek answers. For weeks, interview requests to McCraw’s staff went unanswered.

In an interview, McCraw said he’s fed up with the number of fraudulent inspections occurring statewide.

“I’m more frustrated by the fact that we have people that are doing this plain and simple, because they’re always looking for vulnerabilities, and this is just one more vulnerability they found,” McCraw said.

Earlier this year, NBC 5 Investigates sat outside a state-licensed inspection station in Dallas where we saw no vehicles enter or leave. But state records show during the time we were there the station issued inspections for more than 20 cars.

Our partners at Telemundo 39 went back on another day and saw the same thing – no cars – but more inspections occurring on paper.

One day after NBC contacted DPS about that station, the agency suspected the station’s license. A DPS audit found the station was conducting hundreds of clean scans — weeks before NBC 5 visited that location but had not been shut down.

The owner of the station did not respond to NBC 5’s messages seeking comment.

Investigators with the Travis County Constables office told NBC 5 they could see information in the TCEQ’s computer data indicating inspections happening at the station were fake, but the TCEQ system does not prevent the cars from passing.

On Wednesday, NBC 5 reached out again to the TCEQ. The agency said they had no additional comment. 

For weeks, TCEQ officials have declined interview requests but have said in statements the agency has and will continue to work with Texas DPS to help them enforce the inspection rules.

Rep. Craig Goldman from Fort Worth told NBC 5 he is also putting pressure on TCEQ to find a fix.

“Thank you for all that you did to bring that to our attention, and we’re not going to stop, right? We’ll continue to follow what TCEQ and Texas DPS to see, you know, what a solution there is as well,” Goldman said.

Late Wednesday, a Texas DPS spokesperson sent NBC 5 the following statement expanding on McCraw’s comments.

“The Texas Department of Public Safety has been working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for some time to develop a semi-automated approach that is assisting us as the enforcement arm with shutting down inspection stations where clean-scanning is occurring at a high rate. We will continue to work with our partners to improve this process over time in order to address the statewide issue of clean-scanning.”

But as NBC 5 has reported, Travis County officials suspect one inspection station in Dallas was able to clean scan tens of thousands of cars, or perhaps hundreds of thousands, and was never shut down.

Director McCraw told NBC 5 today he did not know the details of that case but said he would look into it.

fake inspections real plates Mar 22

Investigators Believe Millions of Texas Cars Were Never Checked for Safety & Emissions

fake inspections real plates Mar 23

Texas Lawmakers Push for Action After NBC 5 Investigation Details Claims of Widespread Vehicle Inspection Fraud

]]> Wed, Mar 29 2023 09:54:00 PM Texas Officers Show Support for Bill Eliminating Temporary Paper License Plates https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-officers-show-support-for-bill-eliminating-temporary-paper-license-plates/3225876/ 3225876 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/paper-tag-hearing-wednesday.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Police officers from across Texas packed a hearing room in Austin demonstrating their support for a bill that would eliminate temporary paper license plates. 

Since 2021, NBC 5 Investigates has exposed how the paper tag system has been riddled with fraud.

Officers, including Grand Prairie Chief Daniel Scesney, showed up at a House Transportation Committee hearing Wednesday urging lawmakers to switch from paper plates to metal tags that they say would be harder for crooks to counterfeit and sell online.

“I don’t think anybody can look at this issue with plain common sense and come to any other conclusion that paper tags are bad for Texans. So I’m optimistic that our elected officials will get this done,” Scesney said.

Scesney has made it his mission to eliminate paper tags. As NBC 5 Investigates first reported on Monday, Scesney’s department has confiscated hundreds of fraudulent tags in recent months many of them replicas of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ new paper tag format that was supposed to be harder to copy.

Among the group showing support were Grand Prairie officers who worked alongside Brandon Tsai, who died in November in a crash while pursuing a car with a fraudulent paper tag.

Wednesday, Scensney and Rep. Craig Goldman from Fort Worth passed out fraudulent tags the Grand Prairie Police Department made with each of the House Transportation Committee members’ names on them, trying to illustrate just how easily the new paper tags can be manipulated and reproduced.

Goldman and Scesney told the committee metal tags are the best solution and told NBC 5 Investigates they were humbled by the number of officers who turned out to back their message.

“Very humbling. Very humbling. I mean, when we filed the bill in November, we heard from law enforcement all over this state,” Goldman said.

The bill was left pending in committee but could come up for a committee vote in the next week.

nbc 5 investigates Feb 7

NBC 5 Wins 2023 duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Series ‘Paper Tag Nation'

paper tag nation Mar 27

Texas DMV's New Paper Tag Design Easily Counterfeited, Police Say

fake inspections real plates Mar 22

Investigators Believe Millions of Texas Cars Were Never Checked for Safety & Emissions

Senator Royce West has introduced identical legislation in the Senate.

Goldman and West have said they were motivated to act after seeing NBC 5 Investigates‘ series of reports which first showed how crooks were becoming licensed car dealers so they could get into the state’s computer system and system and produce and sell tags for profit.

Since NBC 5 first reported on this issue in 2021, the Texas DMV has taken steps to shut down many of those so-called dealers, but counterfeiters quickly filled the void producing replica tags.

Now, many police officers are hoping the legislature will help put a stop to that.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

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]]> Wed, Mar 29 2023 05:20:44 PM Dozens of Fatal Crashes May Involve Texas Vehicles With Fake Inspections https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/dozens-of-fatal-crashes-may-involve-texas-vehicles-with-fake-inspections/3224907/ 3224907 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/texas-vehicle-inspection-report-pass-01.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 After exposing the massive number of cars investigators suspect are on Texas roads without a valid safety and emissions inspection, NBC 5 Investigates is now looking into how some of those cars may have been involved in deadly crashes.

Our team has obtained a list of dozens of fatal crashes in the DFW area where investigators said they suspect the car had been fraudulently inspected and should have never been on the road but somehow passed a safety check on paper and was given real Texas license plates.

A group of investigators in Travis County suspect thousands of fraudulent state inspections are occurring every day and the state’s computer system isn’t programmed to automatically flag the fraud and stop the vehicle’s owner from getting license plates.

“It’s not fair that I lost my two kids and they didn’t do anything wrong. They don’t deserve that,” said Eloisa Morales, whose teenage son and daughter, Andres and Crystal Pineda, were killed when they were hit head-on by the driver of a pickup truck last year.

Andres and Crystal were on their way to eat with friends when they were fatally struck. The driver of the truck fled after the crash and has not been caught even though police released a photo of the suspected driver.

Morales told NBC 5 Investigates she arrived at the scene of the crash as first responders were putting her daughter into an ambulance.

“I was like, ‘Is she going to be OK?’ And he was like, ‘We’re doing what we can,'” Morales recalled, still in disbelief her two children who made her laugh and smile are gone. “It’s not getting easier. It’s harder.”

FAKE INSPECTIONS REAL PLATES

paper tag nation Mar 27

Texas DMV's New Paper Tag Design Easily Counterfeited, Police Say

fake inspections real plates Mar 23

Texas Lawmakers Push for Action After NBC 5 Investigation Details Claims of Widespread Vehicle Inspection Fraud

fake inspections real plates Mar 22

Investigators Believe Millions of Texas Cars Were Never Checked for Safety & Emissions

Law enforcement officials with a special vehicle fraud unit in Austin told NBC 5 Investigates they believe the truck that caused the crash did not have a valid state inspection. They said their own review of the state’s emissions inspection database found red flags suggesting a fraudulent inspection occurred.

Sgt. Jose Escribano told NBC 5 Investigates that he believes the car had been “clean scanned” — a process where someone has paid a state-licensed inspection station to manipulate an emissions test so that it guarantees a passing result and then skips the state-required companion inspection of the car’s brakes, tires and other safety equipment.

Escribano’s team of investigators spent months analyzing data in the state’s inspection system. They said their search identified 85 fatal crashes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the last two years where they see indications that a vehicle involved in the crash had been “clean scanned.”

“They pass it. Now, I walk into the tax office with a vehicle inspection report that says that that piece of junk, that unsafe vehicle just passed inspection,” Escribano said.

With the passing report, the car’s owner can then get temporary paper license tags or regular metal plates even though the vehicle never really passed the inspection.

Escribano said records show it happens thousands of times every day across the state.

As NBC 5 Investigates previously reported, the two state agencies that run the vehicle inspection program said the computer system is not programmed to prevent inspection stations from entering fake inspections. That lack of functionality allows the owner of a car to get license plates even though, Escribano said, the state’s own data shows clear evidence many inspections are faked.

“This is state-sponsored. State-sponsored. They allow it. The state of Texas is allowing this,” Escribano said.

His team provided NBC 5 Investigates with the crash report list where they believe a car involved had falsely passed an inspection. We then obtained copies of the accident reports and using VINs in those reports we were able to get state inspection records for those vehicles via a state website that provides access to inspection histories.

NBC 5 Investigates found nine of the fatal crashes involved vehicles inspected by Central Inspection Station, a business once operated out of a garage stall in a building on East Ledbetter in Dallas.

We reported last week that this shop, on paper, ran more state inspections than any other inspection station in the state in 2021 — more than 89,000 in a single year.

In 2019, state records show investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety found an inspector at Central Inspection Station clean scanned hundreds of cars. The Texas DPS suspended the inspector’s license, but by 2021 records obtained from the DPS showed that the inspector was back at Central Inspection Station inspecting cars.

Escribano’s team said the state’s data suggested Central Inspection Station continued clean scanning vehicles, but records obtained by NBC5 Investigates via an open records request show the DPS took no enforcement action against the business.

Central Inspection Station remained open until February 2022. It’s not immediately clear why the inspection station closed.

NBC 5 Investigates contacted the man listed as the owner of Central Inspection Station who said someone stole his information and used his name on the business records without his permission.

By the time Central Inspection Station closed, it had issued inspection reports for more than 265,000 vehicles – including nine cars that records show were later involved in fatal crashes.

“Was the car the cause of it? I don’t know,” Escribano said. “But I can tell you one thing. That car never should have been there at all, in the first place.”

Crash reports for the 85 incidents Escribano’s team identified showed a variety of contributing factors including speeding and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Only one of the crash reports clearly mentions equipment problems, a worn-out tire, as a cause of the crash.

Escribano, who is also a trained crash investigator, said most police agencies rarely look for vehicle defects when there are more obvious factors involved in a crash.

Morales now wonders if the truck that crashed into her children had problems or if it would have even been on the road if not for a false inspection, as the Travis County investigator suspects.

“Thanks to that, that guy was able to get some car plates for his truck, not knowing if the car was good to be on the street or not,” Morales said.

Dallas Police told NBC 5 Investigates the fatal crash involving the truck was caused by speeding and the driver driving on the wrong side of the road. Police said they were not aware the truck had a fraudulent inspection.

DPS records showed the small shop that issued the inspection report on the truck eventually had its license suspended in September after the DPS discovered data in the system showing that the station conducted 2,100 clean scans in less than three months last year.

Escribano said he’s going public with the 85 fatal crashes, hoping the state agencies in charge of the inspection system will look deeper into whether fake inspections contribute to deaths.

“Somebody is going to answer why I lost my family to a car that never even should have been there in the first place. I would ask that question,” Escribano said.

Sgt. Jose Escribano

The investigator said he hopes the state will respond by tightening its system to prevent fraud and protect families.

The Texas DPS, which enforces the inspection rules, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which runs the computer system, have both turned down multiple requests for interviews.

In statements to NBC 5 Investigates, the two state agencies essentially pointed at each other suggesting it was the other agency’s responsibility to address either the lack of automatic flags in the system or to address enforcement of the rules.

The TCEQ said it will continue working with the DPS on the issue, and DPS said in a statement that they have conducted recent operations to shut down inspection stations suspected of fraud.

But, as NBC 5 Investigates demonstrated last week, it was not hard for us to find an inspection station still cranking out inspection reports even though there were no cars coming or going from the location. A major red flag, investigators said, that clean scans are occurring at that location.

]]> Tue, Mar 28 2023 09:54:00 PM Texas DMV's New Paper Tag Design Easily Counterfeited, Police Say https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dmvs-new-paper-tag-design-easily-counterfeited-police-say/3224206/ 3224206 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/Paper-Tag-Nation.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Police in Grand Prairie say most of the counterfeit temporary license plates their officers now encounter on the streets are spitting images of the Texas DMV’s new tag design, rolled out in February in an effort to curb fraud.

It’s evidence, some in law enforcement say, that the state cannot design its way out of the problem, that made Texas the “Paper Tag Nation.”

“Full stop, no. Paper tags won’t work,” Daniel Scesney, Grand Prairie Police Chief, told NBC 5 investigates.

As Scesney spoke, his conference table was covered with almost 200 fake tags his officers seized in recent operations. Just last week, Grand Prairie officers seized about one fake tag every 10 minutes during a six-hour-long special operation spread out over two days.

NBC 5 Investigates rode with Grand Prairie officers as they tried to tackle the problem one counterfeit at a time.

“You’ve got to get your car legal to be on the road, OK? You need to get registered,” Detective James Jones said to one driver as officers made a traffic stop for a fake tag.

Officers seized dozens of counterfeit, many from people suspected of using them to mask the fact that they have no insurance or driver’s license or have a vehicle that could not pass a state inspection needed to be on the road legally.

Frustrations with the fake tags are piling up not only for Grand Prairie officers on the street but also for Scesney. He’s fed up with the astounding number of fake tags, most of which he says are now replicas of the DMV’s new design, with security features designed to prevent counterfeiting, including an embedded QR code that’s supposed to link to the car’s Texas DMV registration information, including the owner’s name and address.

Scesney says crooks quickly faked the DMV’s web, too.

“You are holding an excellent example of a fictitious tag where the criminal took that next step to make a fictitious website,”  Scesney said to NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman, showing him some tags officers seized with QR codes that link to phony websites looking just like the DMV’s registration site.

An officer on the street would have to look closely at the web address to see it’s not really the DMV’s site.

Scesney has made eliminating paper tags his mission since the death of officer Brandon Tsai, who died in a crash while pursuing a car with a fraudulent paper tag.

NBC5 INVESTIGATES

fake inspections real plates Mar 23

Texas Lawmakers Push for Action After NBC 5 Investigation Details Claims of Widespread Vehicle Inspection Fraud

nbc 5 investigates Feb 7

NBC 5 Wins 2023 duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Series ‘Paper Tag Nation'

nbc 5 investigates Mar 22

NBC 5 Investigates: Questions Raised Over Passed Vehicle Inspections

In a yearlong series of reports, NBC 5 Investigates showed how paper tags are often used to create “ghost cars” criminals use in serious crimes, including shootings and cross-border smuggling.

In the wake of the NBC 5 reports, the Texas DMV took major steps to crack down on small car dealers that were illegally selling real temporary tags right out of the state’s system in massive numbers. But as more of those dealers were shut down, police say counterfeiters stepped in aided by the fact that the paper tags come in a PDF format which is easily reproduced.

“I challenged my public information officer team, make me a fake tag…It took them about an hour to create the first one,” said Scesney.

Once they had a template, Scesney says they could crank them out much faster.

To make a point, they even made a tag that has “NBC 5” as the tag number and “Investigative Team Motors” as the dealer name.

“All we do is plug in whatever number we want, put in the new date. And it takes us now about 2 minutes,” said Scesney. To prove a point, Scesney’s team also quickly created their own website with a QR code link that mirror’s the DMV’s.

On Wednesday, the Texas House Transportation committee holds a hearing on a bill introduced by state Representative Craig Goldman, that would require the DMV to use only metal tags.

“Until someone comes to me with a better solution, our goal is to eliminate paper tags in the state,” Goldman told NBC 5 Investigates in an interview at the state Capitol.

Under current state law, the TxDMV has no choice but to issue temporary tags made of paper.

In a statement to NBC 5, a TxDMV spokesman said that, as a state agency, the TxDMV does not take a position for or against any proposed legislation, such as the bill that would eliminate paper tags. The department said over the last year it has taken substantial steps to reduce tag fraud.

“While criminals will continue seeking ways to circumvent the law, Texas has made considerable regulatory improvements to address the expressed concerns with the temporary tag process, within existing statutory authorizations,” the statement said.

Grand Prairie Police won’t rest until Texas eliminates paper tags. A fake tag hanging above Chief Scesney’s desk is a reminder of why. It’s printed with Officer Tsai’s name and badge number.

“Keeping that top of mind for me is my number one priority right now and making sure that we can do everything possible to get rid of these paper tags in Texas,” said Scesney.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Mar 27 2023 10:07:44 PM Texas Lawmakers Push for Action After NBC 5 Investigation Details Claims of Widespread Vehicle Inspection Fraud https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/fake-inspections-real-plates-texas-lawmakers-push-for-action-after-nbc-5-investigation-details-claims-of-widespread-vehicle-inspection-fraud/3221590/ 3221590 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/texas-vehicle-inspection-sign.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 After an NBC 5 Investigation raised questions about whether millions of Texas cars were able to get real license plates with fake safety and emissions inspections, some Texas lawmakers are calling for action.

Two prominent North Texas legislators said they want answers from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about why the state’s inspection computer system doesn’t immediately block stations suspected of fraud from continuing to pass cars.

NBC 5 Investigates revealed Wednesday that a group of investigators in Travis County believes as many as 5 million Texas cars are “clean scanned” every year — meaning someone has paid a state-licensed inspection station to manipulate an emissions test so that it guarantees a passing result and to then skip the companion state-required check of the car’s brakes, tires and other safety equipment.

Our reporting found the state’s inspection computer system is not programmed to catch fake inspections and immediately stop them. State records we obtained show the system captures data showing red flags for fraud in real-time – but the system allows inspection stations to keep passing cars despite those red flags.

“They need to figure out exactly what type of software they need to put in place in order to be able to check it out and then respond accordingly,” said Texas Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas, Dist. 23). “You can’t respond a year later. You’ve got to respond in real-time to that.”

West promises to take up the issue with the TCEQ, the agency that runs the inspection computer system.

The TCEQ confirmed to NBC 5 Investigates that its system is not currently programmed to automatically alert law enforcement when suspected fraudulent inspections are entered into the system. But the agency said that it will continue to work cooperatively with the Texas Department of Public Safety to develop appropriate tools and functionality that will help them weed out fraud.

The DPS enforces the state’s inspection rules.

Texas State Rep. Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth, Dist. 97) said the time to act is now.

“Thanks to you bringing this to our attention. Now, I’m going to have that conversation with TCEQ and see how we fix that,” Goldman said.

Law enforcement and legislators aren’t the only ones fed up with fraud at licensed inspection stations. Some legitimate inspection stations said they’ve also had enough.

“It’s a huge problem. We see it every day. We see it every day. And we all and there’s nothing we can do about it,” said Scott Morrisson, who operates several state licensed inspection stations said his stations often get complaints after they fail a car and the driver then finds another station willing to pass it for a fee.

“Our biggest frustration are these criminal operations that are literally just selling stickers,” Morrisson said.

Morrisson is a board member of the Texas State Inspection Association, which believes good inspections keep families safe by keeping unsafe cars off of Texas roads.

“We’ve got to do that. We just don’t need a bunch of vehicles on the road that can’t pass a relatively simple inspection,” West said.

For Goldman, fixing the inspection system is actually his second choice. He said he’d prefer to scrap inspections completely and put the responsibility of having safe cars on the road on drivers and not on the state. Questions now about widespread fraud within the inspection system only added to his existing doubts about the program.

“Good people are going to get their cars inspected and frankly, waste that time and waste that money to get them inspected versus the criminals out there that are going to game the system,” Goldman said.

There are a couple of bills pending in the legislature that would either eliminate inspections, as Goldman has suggested, or lengthen the number of years between required inspections.

National research on whether inspection programs reduce crashes and deaths has found mixed results over the years. But if it’s true that as many as five million cars in Texas have fake inspections, as those Travis County investigators suspect, some say it may be harder to assess whether inspections here are having an impact or not.

FAKE INSPECTIONS, REAL PLATES

fake inspections real plates Mar 22

Investigators Believe Millions of Texas Cars Were Never Checked for Safety & Emissions

nbc 5 investigates Mar 22

NBC 5 Investigates: Questions Raised Over Passed Vehicle Inspections

]]> Thu, Mar 23 2023 09:57:02 PM Investigators Believe Millions of Texas Cars Were Never Checked for Safety & Emissions https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/fake-inspections-real-license-plates-investigators-believe-millions-of-texas-cars-were-never-checked-for-safety-emissions/3220698/ 3220698 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/03/fake-inspections-real-plates.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 A group of Texas law enforcement fraud investigators believes millions of cars on Texas roads never passed state-required safety or emissions tests. Yet, those cars were able to get temporary paper license plates, or even regular metal plates, by paying an inspection station to fraudulently pass the car.

Compounding the problem, state records and undercover videos shot by NBC 5 Investigates reveal that the state’s inspection computer system is not set up to immediately flag stations conducting fake inspections.

Instead, the false inspections continue, sometimes for weeks or months, investigators say, and more cars that were not checked end up on Texas roads.

More than a year ago NBC 5 Investigates dubbed Texas the “Paper Tag Nation” as we exposed how small state-licensed car dealers illegally sold temporary paper license plates, often to people whose cars couldn’t pass a state inspection.

Now, some law enforcement officers say the “Paper Tag Nation” is becoming the Land of Fake Inspections as some inspection stations fraudulently pass cars in exchange for cash, in what appears to be massive numbers, aided by technology that makes inspections easier to fake.

Sgt. Jose Escribano, a veteran investigator with a Travis County Constables unit focused on inspection and license plate fraud, estimates there are as many as five million cars on Texas roads every year with fraudulent inspections that could be masking a staggering number of hidden safety problems. Escribano said that number is based on an analysis of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality emissions inspection data, assessing the percentage of inspections with red flags for fraud identified by the Travis County team.

What’s more, records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates suggest the state agencies that run the vehicle inspection program aren’t doing much to stop the fake inspections as they happen.

Escribano said he believes the state’s system has left the door totally open to fraud.

At about 10 a.m. on a Wednesday in January 2023, NBC 5 Investigates‘ cameras were rolling outside a small auto shop on East Illinois Avenue in Dallas.

State records show the shop is the home of Upscale Inspection, one of the thousands of small businesses licensed by the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct state-required vehicle emissions and safety inspections.

For an hour and 15 minutes, NBC 5 Investigates sat outside and didn’t see any cars go in or come out of the garage doors of the shop. But state emissions inspection records we obtained from the TCEQ show that during that same time, Upscale Inspections inspected 23 vehicles.

“So they’re conducting fraud. That’s the first thing. They’re conducting fraud,” said Escribano, who leads a team of investigators in Travis County specializing in cases of license plate and inspection fraud.

Escribano said if the small shop were doing dozens of legitimate inspections the traffic coming and going would be easy to see.

You sit in front of a business for an hour. Nothing moves? Impossible. They have to have a car go in there. Inspector has to have hands on that car.

Sgt. Jose Escribano, Travis County Constables

Escribano said his team could see signs Upscale Inspections was faking inspections without even visiting the shop. His investigators have real-time access to the TCEQ’s emission inspection data and he said it showed other red flags suggesting Upscale was performing what’s known as “clean scans.”

John Dohmann, a retired investigator with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, said a clean scan is a fake inspection. When he was with the sheriff’s office Dohmann investigated clean scanning as part of a special task force.

Dohmann said some fraudulent inspection stations clean scan cars by plugging the analyzer used to check the emissions system into another car that will pass the inspection. Then they attach the passing result to the car that wouldn’t pass. But investigators said newer technology has made faking an inspection even easier.

“Now, the way they’re doing it, there’s no car involved. It’s just on a computer,” Dohmann said.

Investigators said fraudulent inspectors can use a simulator device similar to a flash drive that plugs into the emissions analyzer instead of the car. The device simulates a car’s onboard diagnostic system and can be programmed to guarantee a passing result.

The fake result is then uploaded into the state’s system and the car doesn’t even have to be at the inspection station.

But if the car isn’t there, it’s not getting a state-required safety inspection either. That’s where the inspector checks the brakes, steering system, turn signals, tires and other safety items.

All of those items are skipped when a car is clean scanned.

“Vehicle was never there. They never checked insurance on it, nothing,” Escribano said.

Once a car has a fake passing report, it can get a temporary license plate or regular metal plates and annual registration stickers.

Escribano said fraudulent inspectors could be making millions of dollars per year selling fake inspections.

Investigators said clean scans are even sold via social media sites ranging in price from $100 to $500 each, often to people trying to avoid costly car repairs needed to pass a safety or emissions test.

Escribano said his team can see the inspections entered into the TCEQ’s inspection system in real-time and that the system captures numerous red flags for clean scans — though we aren’t sharing details of all of those red flags because we don’t want to help fraudsters evade law enforcement. But the most obvious one, Escribano said, is the sheer number of inspections entered by some stations.

Back at Upscale Inspections on East Illinois Avenue in Dallas, the 23 inspections in 75 minutes means they’re inspecting a car about every three minutes. Escribano and legitimate inspectors NBC 5 Investigates talked to said it’s not possible to do them that fast.

“That should be a total red flag,” Escribano said.

In statements to NBC 5 Investigates, the two agencies that manage the inspection program confirmed the computer system is not programmed to alert anyone when potentially fraudulent inspections are entered.

The Texas DPS said, “The TCEQ-owned database captures data that must be manually analyzed. There are no automated triggers, red flags, or thresholds built into the TCEQ-owned database.”

TCEQ also confirmed its system, “…does not have a trigger that flags stations producing a high volume of inspections.”

The state systems register fake inspections all day long and they aren’t stopping them as they happen, Escribano said.

In late January 2023, our partners at Telemundo 39 went back to Upscale Inspection on a second day and again saw no cars coming or going. But state records showed another 21 cars were inspected during the 75 minutes they were outside.

We contacted the Texas DPS to ask about Upscale Inspections. A day later, the DPS suspended their license.

A DPS report we obtained showed an audit of inspection data found Upscale Inspections was conducting fraudulent inspections and that they conducted 882 clean scans as far back as early to mid-December 2022. But NBC 5 Investigates found Upscale Inspections was still logging inspections in mid-January more than a month after the data in the state system showed evidence of false inspections occurring at that station.

“Why don’t you shut them down when the inspector is entering the information in on the analyzer? Why? I don’t understand,” Escribano wondered.

NBC 5 Investigates wanted to ask the TCEQ and DPS why they haven’t programmed their system to flag and prevent fraud, but both agencies declined requests for interviews.

In a statement, TCEQ told NBC 5 Investigates it “has, and will continue to, work cooperatively with…Texas DPS” “to help them enforce the rules.”

The TCEQ repeatedly referred us back to the DPS saying, it’s their job to police inspections.

DPS told us it “…conducted an operation during the fall of 2022…” and “the department took immediate revocation or suspension actions against over 270 stations…” suspected of fraud.

DPS is trying, but they’re playing Whack-A-Mole. There’s no way they can keep up with this mess. It falls all back again on the TCEQ and your leadership. Take action. Take action. Shut them down at the source.

Sgt. Jose Escribano, Travis County Constables

We also tried to reach the man listed as the owner of Upscale Inspections by phone. Our messages were not returned. When we visited the building, no one answered.

Escribano said that shop is just one tiny example. He pointed to another location in Dallas along East Ledbetter where a company called Central Inspection Station once operated out of a single garage stall.

TCEQ records showed Central Inspection Station ran more than 89,000 inspections in 2021, more than any shop in the entire state. At one point, state records indicate the shop was running roughly 450 inspections per day.

Escribano said performing that number of inspections per day was impossible and that TCEQ records his team reviewed showed clear evidence many of the inspections done were fake.

NBC 5 Investigates contacted the man listed as the owner of Central Inspection Station and he said someone stole his name and that he never owned the shop.

State records showed the DPS suspended the license of one inspector at Central Inspection Station for clean scanning hundreds of cars in 2019. But the records also show the DPS took no enforcement action against the station itself and that the shop remained open even though Escribano’s group said data suggested more clean scans occurred.

Central Inspection Station closed in 2022, though it’s not immediately clear why. By then records showed they had issued more than 265,000 inspection reports in just three years.

Dohmann said he questioned the state years ago about why the system isn’t built to immediately cut off stations suspected of fraud.

“I don’t know what their reasoning is when they know that these are false inspections and they’re still letting them go through,” Dohmann said.

In Dallas, officials with the North Central Texas Council of Governments air quality program told NBC 5 Investigates that they’ve also been asking the TCEQ why it can’t program the system to alert law enforcement.

“When you say you can’t, what does that mean? You know, why can’t you?” asked Chris Klaus, with NCTCOG. “Is it because of funding? Is it because the program is too complicated?”

The council said it wants to help the TCEQ prevent fraud because they fear if more cars falsely pass then it puts more North Texans at risk.

We’re the little Dutch boy putting our finger in the dam, and that dam is just — waterholes are popping everywhere.

Sgt. Jose Escribano, Travis County Constables

When asked, the TCEQ said they cannot say how often they think fake inspections are happening. The TCEQ maintains that much of the inspection data cannot be made public due to privacy rules and NBC 5 Investigates has, so far, been unable to see all of the data ourselves but we are still fighting to get access to more of that information.

Faking an emissions test is a misdemeanor but sometimes prosecutors can bring a felony charge for falsifying a government record. The DPS said it sometimes refers cases to local district attorneys for prosecution but that it wasn’t clear how often that happens. DPS officials said they were unable to provide records showing how many referrals occurred.

Some investigators said they believe the number of cases filed is very small compared to the number of stations believed to be selling clean scans.

PAPER TAG NATION

nbc 5 investigates Feb 7

NBC 5 Wins 2023 duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Series ‘Paper Tag Nation'

paper tag nation Dec 9, 2022

Grand Prairie Police Chief Tells Lawmakers– New Paper Tags Won't Stop Crooks

paper tag nation Dec 8, 2022

New Texas Paper Tags Hit the Road on Friday

]]> Wed, Mar 22 2023 09:52:21 PM NBC 5 Wins 2023 duPont-Columbia Award for Investigative Series ‘Paper Tag Nation' https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/nbc-5-wins-2023-dupont-columbia-award-for-investigative-series-paper-tag-nation/3187869/ 3187869 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/02/dupont-Columbia-award.png?fit=300,169&quality=85&strip=all The prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards recognized NBC 5 Investigates for “Paper Tag Nation” an eye-opening series of reports exposing how security gaps at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) allowed criminals to obtain car dealer licenses and then sell hundreds of thousands of fraudulent temporary license plates, some of which were used on cars involved in other serious crimes.

The NBC 5 Investigates team, led by Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman and Senior Investigative Producer Eva Parks, relentlessly pursued the story for more than 12 months, filing more than 40 reports, digging deep to reveal the far-reaching impact of fraudulent Texas paper tags and the threat they pose to the public and police. The team used the DMV’s own records to show how licensed “dealers,” in some cases with no storefront, were issuing massive numbers of temporary plates which police said were then sold on the black market. The reporting revealed how fraudulent tags are sometimes placed on vehicles used in violent crimes and cross-border smuggling to conceal the vehicles’ true ownership from law enforcement authorities.

The reporting helped spark changes, including a change in DMV leadership, a new background check system for Texas auto dealers, the suspension of dozens of dealer licenses, and ongoing legislative hearings to address the widespread fraud.

In their comments about the “Paper Tag Nation” series, the duPont-Columbia Awards jurors wrote, “This remarkable series of investigative reports took an obscure topic – paper license plates – and uncovered an entire underworld of criminal activity, proving that public interest journalism can be as dramatic as an action movie.”

“Our team is dedicated to identifying fraud, critical safety concerns, and holding public officials accountable,” said Friedman. “We are incredibly grateful and honored that our efforts have been recognized by the du-Pont Columbia jurors with this prestigious award.”  

“‘Paper Tag Nation’ is a great example of impactful stories NBC 5 Investigates is committed to uncovering and that resulted in meaningful change throughout Texas and beyond,” said John Stone, NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 Vice President of News.

“NBC 5 is honored to have been recognized with this duPont-Columbia award, as Scott, Eva and the NBC 5 Investigates team’s ‘Paper Tag Nation’ story is a testament of the continued importance of local journalism today and the service we provide our Dallas-Ft. Worth community and beyond,” said Tony Canales, NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 President and General Manager.

Founded in 1942, the duPont-Columbia Awards uphold the highest standards in journalism by honoring the best in broadcast, documentary, and online reporting, and were presented yesterday evening in a ceremony at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City.  The award is frequently viewed as a companion to the Pulitzer Prize, which is also awarded by the Columbia University School of Journalism but recognizes written and musical work.

For complete details on all the winners, please access The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards finalist list and awardee info here.

Click here for all the available “Paper Tag Nation” content

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

]]> Tue, Feb 07 2023 07:50:37 AM Grid Experts: Statewide Power Outages Unlikely, Local Outages More Likely as Ice Arrives https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/grid-experts-statewide-power-outages-unlikely-local-outages-more-likely-as-ice-arrives/3182217/ 3182217 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/01/texas-power-grid.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Officials at ERCOT, the state’s power grid operator, said Monday they are confident Texas will avoid any statewide power problems as icy weather and frigid temperatures affect North Texas and other parts of the state this week.

Grid experts who spoke to NBC 5 cautioned the ice may impact wind turbines that produce power in West Texas and the Texas Panhandle, and cloudy conditions are expected to limit solar power production. But, on the other hand, temperatures in Houston and San Antonio are expected to remain above freezing, which could help significantly alleviate any power concerns.

Put simply: This week’s weather forecast is very different than February 2021, when a potent winter storm, known as Winter Strom Uri, brought a deep freeze even to the far corners of Texas, lasting for days, and triggering power outages that left millions in the dark.

The warmer temperature in South Texas this week should significantly reduce statewide power demand, grid watchers said, leaving only very low odds for any widespread outages.

“As a near to zero as you could possibly be, without being zero, simply because we’re not looking at temperatures in the single digits for extended days,” said Doug Lewin, an Austin-based energy consultant.

“There’s some snow and ice associated with this, but nothing like during Uri, I mean, that was, you know, just an extraordinary event. And, this doesn’t look anything like that”, Lewin said.

As of Thursday evening, ERCOT’s online forecasting charts were showing Thursday’s expected peak demand to be about 63,000 megawatts of power. That’s far less than the 77,000 MW estimated peak demand during the 2021 winter storm. One megawatt can power about 200 homes during peak periods.

Still, Lewin said some neighborhoods in North Texas will likely see power outages over the next two days, from ice accumulating on power lines or tree limbs that can break and take down the lines.

Localized issues can be equally frustrating and dangerous if your home is affected. That’s why emergency management officials always encourage people to keep enough supplies at home to ride out the storm while power lines are repaired.

From new records revealing the causes of the massive February power outages to new interviews revealing potential solutions, NBC 5 Investigates gets to the bottom of the state’s power problems in the ongoing streaming series “Powerless,” available here.

school closings Jan 30

Updated School Closings, Delays for Friday

Denton County Jan 30

Denton Gets Blast of Winter

forecast Jan 27

Slick Spots Remain as Ice Thaws Friday, Freezing Fog Possible Saturday Morning

]]> Mon, Jan 30 2023 08:44:04 PM Former Oath Keeper Has Trained Texas Law Enforcement From More Than 80 Departments https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/former-oath-keeper-has-trained-texas-law-enforcement-from-more-than-80-departments/3167915/ 3167915 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/01/AGAINST-ALL-ENEMEIS-WEB-LOOP-v-01-05-2023-10.49.51-AM_2023-01-05-10-50-46.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 An NBC 5 investigation reveals a former leader of the far-right Oath Keepers has been able to attract Texas sheriffs and police officers from more than 80 law enforcement agencies to training sessions held across the state.

Retired Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, a former board member of the Oath Keepers, teaches county sheriffs that they are more powerful than the FBI and even the president of the United States.

Mack, who founded the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), maintains that the U.S. Constitution gives local law enforcement officers powers to block federal officials, and even powers to personally determine whether laws are constitutional.

Legal experts who spoke to NBC 5 Investigates said the theories Mack teaches are a false and dangerous interpretation of the Constitution and could put legitimate federal authorities at risk.

Sheriffs and police officers who have attended Mack’s training sessions in Texas have been able to receive continuing education credit from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) which certifies Texas law enforcement officers.

But, after NBC 5 Investigates obtained some of Mack’s course handouts and questioned TCOLE about the material, TCOLE said it would conduct an investigation of the course content and also re-examine its procedures for accrediting law enforcement trainings. The agency provided no timeline on when its investigation would be complete.

NBC 5 Investigates’ findings are detailed in a new streaming series, “Against All Enemies.” Watch a preview now:

In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, Mack said Texas is the state where his constitutional sheriff’s movement is growing the fastest and that he believes TCOLE has “endorsed” his trainings.

“They have,” Mack told NBC 5 Investigates. “I mean, if they didn’t approve it they would have stopped it.”

More than 20% of the state’s elected county sheriffs have attended a CSPOA training according to course rosters NBC 5 Investigates obtained from both TCOLE and the county sheriff’s departments that helped host CSPOA trainings.

“We can’t have extremists who are misstating the law for their own purposes get in and poison trainings for law enforcement. This is a national security issue,” said Brian Levin, who heads the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

Levin believes the CSPOA’s message is essentially the same anti-government message preached by the Oath Keepers and its founder Stewart Rhodes, the Granbury man who was later convicted of conspiring to overturn a U.S. presidential election in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Mack was one of the early board members of the Oath Keepers along with Rhodes. But Mack said he left the organization years ago, long before the Jan. 6 attack because he said he disagreed with Rhodes over the group evolving into a militia.

Mack maintains the CSPOA is simply encouraging law enforcement to uphold their constitutional oath, which he believes requires county sheriffs and police officers to resist federal law enforcement actions they perceive to be tyrannical.

“The FBI doesn’t have any credibility left, don’t blame that on us. Their lack of credibility is their own fault, not ours. We’re trying to protect the people from all enemies, both foreign and domestic,” Mack told NBC 5 Investigates.

The NBC 5 Investigates streaming series “Against All Enemies” also includes an interview with Jason Van Tatenhove, the former Oath Keepers national media director who left the group years ago, after he said he became concerned about the group’s direction.

Van Tatenhove, who has testified about the Oath Keepers in the House Committee to Investigate the Attack on the U.S. Capitol, believes the CSPOA is quietly normalizing an anti-government message among law enforcement.

“None of this is new, this is all just re-branding”, Van Tatenhove said to NBC 5 Investigates.

Edward Ayala, Mike Ortiz and Don Peritz, Jr. contributed to this report.

How To Watch “Against All Enemies” On Streaming Devices

“Against All Enemies” is available to stream on a number of platforms.

It airs periodically on the NBC Dallas Fort Worth News streaming channel on The Roku Channel, Xumo or Samsung TV Plus.

Viewers can also watch on-demand, but downloading NBC 5’s apps on Roku and FireTV.

For additional help, go to NBCDFW.com/everywhere.

“Against All Enemies” Is Also Available To Watch Below

]]> Thu, Jan 05 2023 05:30:00 PM ‘Against All Enemies': Watch The NBC 5 Investigates Program Exploring a Group With Ties to the Oath Keepers That Has Recruited and Trained Texas Law Enforcement https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/against-all-enemies-how-to-watch-nbc-5-investigates-new-streaming-series/3162233/ 3162233 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2023/01/AGAINST-ALL-ENEMEIS-WEB-LOOP-v-01-05-2023-10.49.51-AM_2023-01-05-10-50-46.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates’ series “Against All Enemies” explores how a former high-ranking leader of the Oath Keepers, who teaches sheriffs that they are above the FBI and the President of the United States, has been able to conduct trainings for Texas law enforcement officials.  NBC 5’s questions about the group’s Texas training sessions have led to an investigation by a state agency that licenses peace officers.

Watch a preview in the video player below:

How To Watch “Against All Enemies” On Streaming Devices

“Against All Enemies” is available to stream on a number of platforms.

It airs periodically on the NBC Dallas Fort Worth News streaming channel on The Roku Channel, Xumo or Samsung TV Plus.

Viewers can also watch on-demand, but downloading NBC 5’s apps on Roku and FireTV.

For additional help, go to NBCDFW.com/everywhere.

“Against All Enemies” Is Also Available To Watch Below

Read Additional Reporting From "Against All Enemies"

nbc 5 investigates Jan 5

Former Oath Keeper Has Trained Texas Law Enforcement From More Than 80 Departments

Hood County Jan 11

Women in Granbury ISD Book Probe Say Deputy Constable Solicited Criminal Complaint

]]> Wed, Jan 04 2023 09:30:11 PM Grand Prairie Police Chief Tells Lawmakers– New Paper Tags Won't Stop Crooks https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/grand-prairie-police-chief-tells-lawmakers-new-paper-tags-wont-stop-crooks/3145464/ 3145464 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/12/GP-Chief-at-Tx-DMV-Hearing.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rolled out newly designed temporary paper license plates on Friday, designed to be harder to counterfeit.

But at a Senate Criminal Justice Committee hearing in Austin, hours after the new tags made their debut, police told lawmakers they don’t think the new design will stop crooks who keep printing them and slapping them on cars across the state.

Grand Prairie police chief, Daniel Scesney traveled to the state capitol to tell senators Texas should simply get rid of paper tags.

“Anybody with a computer and a printer can make a tag,” Scesney told lawmakers.

Scesney’s testimony comes less than a month after one of his officers, Brandon Tsai, died in a crash while pursuing a car with a fraudulent tag. Police said the tag on that car had been spotted on more than 200 other cars in the DFW area.

At the Capitol, Scesney sat down with NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman to talk about his push for change.

“We are going to scream from the rooftops. I can tell you we are going to get to the tallest mountain and make sure that officers Tsai’s name and the circumstances surrounding his death are heard,” said Scesney.

At Friday’s hearing the Texas DMV touted a new paper tag design – just released Friday — saying it will help reduce counterfeiting.

“The launch of the new design will make it more difficult to counterfeit a temporary tag and in those cases where criminals attempt to do so it will be immediately identifiable to law enforcement who can take more immediate enforcement action,” said Roland Luna, Deputy Executive Director for the Texas DMV.

Cheif Scesney believes the state should switch from paper to metal temporary tags.

“I am not here to shoot arrows at anyone I appreciate the work that the state is doing to fix the problem but there is still more work to be done here,” Scesney told NBC 5 Investigates in an interview at the state capitol.

Scesney and other law enforcement officials told NBC 5 even the new tag design uses a PDF format. That provides a template that they say crooks can use to scan, alter and print the new tag design too.

Others in law enforcement echoed Scesney’s call for paper tags to go.

“You take all of those out you go back to plates and I will assure you we are going to stop this,” said Sgt. Jose Escribano, Travis County Constable’s Office Precinct 3.

Over the last year, NBC 5 Investigates exposed how some small car dealers were using the DMV’s own system to print and illegally sell hundreds of thousands of real tags – on the black market

Since our reports – new TxDMV leadership has made major changes to shut down crooked dealers.

“Even after the bumpy road we have taken to get here the department has taken decisive action and impactful action,” said TxDMV Executive Director Daniel Avitia, at Friday’s hearing.

But police say bad guys have shifted to simply copying tags using those pdf templates.

In Grand Prairie, where officers are still reeling from officer Tsai’s death, the chief says his department encounters fake tags every day and investigators are already involved in a new investigation of a delivery company suspected of using them.

“His employees can’t pass state inspection with their vehicles so he is just printing off license plates in his office and handing them out to his employees. Right now. That case just came in yesterday,” Scesney told NBC 5 Investigates.

The TxDMV told NBC 5 Investigates it cannot switch to metal temporary tags without a change in state law, but an agency spokesman said the department is willing to discuss any new proposals with lawmakers.

Rep. Craig Goldman from Fort Worth has already introduced a bill in the House that would make the switch to metal plates. And at Friday’s hearing, senators said they will have more hearings to discuss solutions when the legislature is back in session in January.

]]> Fri, Dec 09 2022 06:58:36 PM New Texas Paper Tags Hit the Road on Friday https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/new-texas-paper-tags-hit-the-road-on-friday/3144358/ 3144358 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/11/tx-redesigned-paper-plate.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Starting Friday, Texas temporary paper license plates will have a new design.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles is rolling out paper tags with more security features to help law enforcement crackdown on fraudulent and counterfeit tags.

The TxDMV board talked about the changes Thursday at a meeting in Austin.

It’s the latest in a long list of new security measures implemented in recent months after a series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates exposed the massive scale of the fraudulent paper tag problem.

Among the changes, the TxDMV has started fingerprinting people applying for car dealer licenses, addressing a massive gap in security.

In November 2021, NBC 5 Investigates revealed how crooks were exploiting weak background checks so that they could become licensed car dealers, and then issue hundreds of thousands of fraudulent tags from the TxDMV’s electronic tag system.

The chairman of the TxDMV Board said Thursday that he is pleased with how the staff has responded to the problem over the course of the last year.

“I felt very strongly that this agency needed to change its posture, change its focus. You have done that, you responded, we are in a better place than we were ten months ago. But we cannot stop being vigilant, and I know we won’t,” said TxDMV board chairman Charles Bacarisse.

On Friday, the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee will discuss more possible changes to address tag fraud.

Some lawmakers want metal plates to replace paper temporary tags, and law enforcement officials are also asking for more resources to track criminals who put fraudulent and counterfeit tags on cars used to commit crimes.

NBC 5’s Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman will be in Austin for Friday’s hearing.

]]> Thu, Dec 08 2022 05:26:04 PM Police Searching for Paper Tagged ‘Ghost Car' in Deadly Grand Prairie Chase https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/police-searching-for-paper-tagged-ghost-car-in-deadly-grand-prairie-chase/3126320/ 3126320 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/11/gp-officer-malibu-paper-tag.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Police continue the search for the driver of a car with fake paper tags that led to the police chase that ended with the death of a Grand Prairie police officer Monday night.

NBC 5 Investigates learned from law enforcement sources that the tag’s number was first issued by the DMV this past spring and had since been reproduced hundreds of times.

Officer Brandon Tsai was near the intersection of Belt Line Road and Pioneer Parkway Monday night when he spotted a silver Chevrolet Malibu with a fake paper license tag. Police said Tsai tried to stop the driver when he failed to yield, but that the driver instead chose to try to speed away.

Tsai collided with another police cruiser during the chase and died from his injuries.

The driver of the Malibu got away; their identity is not yet known.

Police said Tuesday that the Malibu’s fake paper tag, which was 0330S43 and expired in September 2022, had been recorded on hundreds of vehicles in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — making the so-called “ghost car” difficult to track down.

A Grand Prairie police officer died Monday night after crashing during a pursuit with a driver who had a fake paper license tag.
A Grand Prairie police officer died Monday night after crashing during a pursuit with a driver who had a fake paper license tag.

“It’s incredibly difficult. Our leads are this make and model of this car. The tag is worthless. There’s hundreds of cars that are displaying this very tag, but we’re not DONE,” said Daniel Scesney, Grand Prairie Chief of Police, during an emotional news conference Tuesday afternoon.

“I can submit to you that our experience dictates these tags aren’t put on cars just because there is nothing wrong,” Scesney said. “I suspect, can’t back that up just yet, but there’s more to this and I can tell you that every detective that works in this department is looking into it.”

PAPER TAG NATION

For more than a year NBC 5’s investigative team has been looking into the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles’ paper tag system and how criminals have been able to gain access to it and exploit it for millions of dollars in illicit gains.

“We have fictitious tags all over the place, and quite frankly, it costs a cop his life. It’s a problem,” Scesney said.

Paper tags can be legitimate, but they can also be entirely counterfeit if they were printed or copied and sold by a criminal abusing the state’s temporary tag system.

NBC 5’s reporting has exposed how criminals obtained dealer’s licenses and used the state’s online system to create and print thousands of tags that were then sold on the black market.

“So now with that PDF and you have, you know, Adobe Pro, you can manipulate all that information and create any tags however you want to create it,” said Sgt. Jose Escribano, with the Travis County Constables Office.

“This is a problem that is plaguing the entire state where violent offenders, burglars, car thieves, are using these fictitious tags to conceal their identities and facilitate crime,” Scesney said Tuesday afternoon. “The system is broken. We have to fix the registration issue. It’s too easy to display a fictitious tag and it’s putting our officers in danger because too many crooks are using these tags to facilitate crime, particularly felonious crime.”

SEARCH FOR ‘GHOST CARS’

NBC 5 Investigates showed how criminals registered with false names and addresses created what police described as “ghost cars,” or vehicles whose information in the state database was as phony as the paper tag on the vehicle.

After NBC 5 exposed the scale of the problem, the Texas DMV made changes making it harder for criminals to get car dealer licenses and limiting the number of licenses that each dealer can print.

Law enforcement officers who spoke with NBC 5 Investigates said it’s difficult to monitor 20,000 dealers and fake tags are still on the road.

“We try, but there’s only like, you know, very few of us,” Escribano said. “How do you keep tabs with the 20,000? You don’t. You can’t. It’s literally impossible to do right now with what we got. So a lot of them are going to go under the radar.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott defunded special police units that once investigated fake tags in large counties, including Dallas County, when he vetoed a clean air program in 2017 that helped fund those units. Abbott said at the time that he had objections to a different program also funded by that bill.

NBC 5 Investigates reached out to the governor’s office on Tuesday afternoon but has not yet received a reply.

House Transportation Committee Chairman Terry Canales has expressed interest in reinstating the funding and his office said he is continuing to work on the problem.

NBC 5 Investigates will continue to stay on the paper tag problem as the legislature reconvenes in January.

Monday’s incident in Grand Prairie is at least the second involving law enforcement in Texas in the last 24 hours where an officer was hurt or killed pursuing a driver with a fake tag. In Lakeway, outside of Austin, police are searching for the driver of a stolen car with a phony tag who struck two police cars Monday night while making an escape.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment of the driver. Tipsters may remain anonymous and can call 972-988-TIPS or share their tips online at gpcrimestoppers.org.

PAPER TAG NATION

paper tag nation May 17, 2022

Vehicle Used in Dallas Salon Shooting Had Paper Tag

paper tag nation May 3, 2022

Dallas Police Shut Down Accused Fake Paper Tag Dealer

paper tags Apr 29, 2022

Fraudulent Texas Paper Tags Showing Up in Washington DC

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, Nov 15 2022 07:08:41 PM NBC 5 Investigates Celebrates 10 Years of Serving and Helping North Texans https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/nbc-5-investigates-celebrates-10-years-of-serving-and-helping-north-texans/3101154/ 3101154 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/10/nbc5-investigates-scott-eva-2022.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has uncovered significant issues in our community, exposing the truth through evidence-based reporting that has led to changes in North Texas and beyond for the past decade. The NBC 5 Investigates team works continuously, with the sole purpose of diligently and meticulously uncovering documents, records, videos, and interviews that contribute to eye-opening investigations and have led to notable discoveries, public response and push for action.

On Oct. 19, 2022, The Dallas Bar Association awarded the NBC 5 Investigates team with the Philbin Award at its annual Fellows Luncheon for the accuracy, resourcefulness and initiative in pursuing the extensive coverage over the past year uncovering widespread issues plaguing the state’s Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) temporary license plate system; identifying how criminals infiltrated the system and obtained hundreds of thousands of temporary tags illegally for profit. Some of those tags were registered to false names and addresses and then placed on vehicles involved in committing other crimes including cross-border smuggling, making the vehicles more difficult for law enforcement to trace. The reporting led to significant safety improvements at the DMV and enforcement action by police departments across North Texas.

Launched in 2012, NBC 5 Investigates was part of the station’s mission to provide meaningful and in-depth reporting for North Texas communities and has reliably served the community ever since. NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman and NBC 5 Senior Investigative Producer Eva Parks were part of the launch team, and since then, they have investigated many issues that matter to local communities, connected the dots, exposed hidden agendas and uncovered illicit activity.

“Our investigates team is singularly focused on getting to the truth. Over the years, our team has done a lot to affect positive changes for North Texas,” said Tom Ehlmann, NBC 5 and Telemundo 39 President and General Manager. “We are proud of what Scott, Eva and our NBC 5 Investigates team have accomplished so far and look forward to seeing the impact their work will make in our communities for years to come.”

“From the beginning, we have been given the time and the resources to dig deeper into issues that matter to our community,” said Friedman. “While we can never predict where our work might lead, it has been rewarding to see our investigations inform decision-makers, motivate action, and lead to long-term change.”

NBC 5 Investigates reporting has contributed to government policy changes locally and nationally, which has led to both local and national recognition, including:

  • Driven to Distraction – National News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Regional Investigative Report and National Edward R. Murrow Award winner. Series revealing how police officers using dashboard computers caused serious accidents. Reports resulted in local and national changes to police policy and training. 
  • Injured Heroes, Broken Promises – National Edward R. Murrow Award winner. National Sigma Delta Chi Award winner. Reporting leading to nationwide changes at special units charged with caring for injured U.S. Army soldiers. 
  • Big Buses, Bigger Problems – Peabody Award-winning series that uncovered corruption inside the Dallas County Schools bus agency. Reporting led to the closure of the entire agency and criminal investigations that led to six federal convictions, including one of the highest-ranking elected officials in the City of Dallas.
  • The Invisibles – Peabody Award nominated documentary uncovering the stories of American-born children who face hardships in Mexico due to a Texas state system that can make it harder for them to prove their identity. 
  • Powerless – Documentary style series revealing how power plants that left Texas in the dark in the 2021 winter storm were plants that failed in a previous winter storm. regional Emmy Award winner.
  • Paper Tag Nation – National Headliner Award-winning investigation revealing how criminal groups infiltrated the state’s temporary license plate system. Reporting led to significant safety improvements at the Texas DMV.  
]]> Wed, Oct 19 2022 05:26:32 PM Some DFW Cities Check Splash Pad Water Less Often Than CDC Recommends: NBC 5 Investigates https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/some-dfw-cities-check-splash-pad-water-less-often-than-cdc-recommends-nbc-5-investigates/3043847/ 3043847 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/08/splash-pad-generic-two.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has obtained documents raising new questions about whether current state rules are enough to keep kids from getting sick at splash pads.

It’s an issue that’s reached a new level of concern since 3-year-old Bakari Williams died after contracting a serious illness from an amoeba after visiting an Arlington splash pad in 2021.

“We just want you all to know that Bakari was a loving, energetic, passionate, sweet, beautiful, innocent boy,” said Tariq Williams, Bakari’s father, at a news conference last year after the child’s death.

A simple trip to a splash pad ended the energetic boy’s life.

“He didn’t deserve to die in this manner,” Tariq said.

Bakari’s death brought attention to a rare brain-eating amoeba that can be found in lakes or rivers, and sometimes poorly chlorinated pool water.

In Arlington, city records revealed staff was not testing the chlorine levels every day at Misenhimer Park, where Bakari played. Samples taken from the splash pad later confirmed the presence of the amoeba in the water.

“My heart just fell to the floor that I knew we did not do our job,” said Michael Debrecht, Arlington Assistant Parks Operator in an interview with NBC 5 Investigates.

The city quickly acknowledged its mistakes, settled a lawsuit with the boy’s family, and set out to do better by investing in new splash pad equipment, and establishing tougher standards for safety and water testing that they dubbed the “Bakari Williams Protocol.”

“We wanted to tell our public that we did everything in our power to make this safe for families to use. And that’s what we did,” Debrecht said.

Among the changes was checking the water three times throughout the day, not just once per day, to ensure that large crowds or equipment malfunctions haven’t caused a sudden decrease in chlorine levels.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommend splash pads test the water at least every two to four hours when open to the public.

Texas law, however, only requires testing once per day and, as NBC 5 Investigates discovered, many cities are only following that minimum state requirement.

NBC 5 Investigates requested records and found at least six DFW-area cities with splash pads where the water is tested only once per day, often in the morning before it opens.

Kim Bybee, manager of Carrollton Parks, said they didn’t have the staff to test more frequently than once per day.

“Our splash parks are freestanding remote facilities. We don’t have dedicated staff at these locations, so it’s hard for us to kind of get all over the place with multiple locations,” Bybee said.

Bybee said their ultimate goal is to follow state regulations of checking the water once per day and not the CDC guidelines recommending more frequent checks every two to four hours.

Roy Vore, a water safety expert who helped write the CDC’s splash pad guidelines, said the best practice is to monitor the water more than once a day and Texas should revise its code to adopt that tougher standard.

Vore, who also sits on the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance Water Quality Committee, said if a facility didn’t have anyone on site and was only checking the water once in the morning, he wouldn’t allow his family to visit the splash pad.

“My kids wouldn’t get within a mile of that facility,” Vore said. “If I were a health inspector, I would red tag it until they had somebody onsite.”

Vore said that splash pads can sometimes be more risky than public pools because they are what he calls “bottom washers.”

“That’s basically what you’re doing,” Vore said. “You’re washing stuff right off kids bottoms and they may not have the best sanitation practices.”

Because of that, Vore said chlorine levels can change quickly making once-a-day testing insufficient.

“That is unacceptable. That is an unacceptable practice,” Vore said. “They need to prioritize their budget and put somebody there to swing by, at least at noon and at least at 4 p.m. And If they don’t have the money to run it, don’t run it.”

Carrollton insisted its system is extremely safe because machines on-site constantly monitor chlorine levels and add more when needed. The city also has backup UV disinfection systems designed to kill any bacteria that the chlorine doesn’t.

“We have automatic disinfection systems that are very reliable, and they do the work throughout the day,” Bybee said.

But some experts said backup UV disinfection is not guaranteed to kill certain clusters of bacteria and they point out automated chlorination systems can malfunction, causing them to incorrectly read the chlorine levels.

“They need to be continuously calibrated and if there is shifting in there or there is a blockage in the sensor, then you have no disinfectant and now you have potential for serious illness, if not a fatality,” said Vore.

NBC 5 Investigates saw how the automated systems can fail at Grand Prairie’s Splash Factory Park. We obtained city records that showed chlorine levels have dropped below the state minimum of one part per million on at least 24 days this summer.

The city said the low levels were the result of calibration issues with its automatic system.

“We’re still working with our installer for some final adjustments to get it where we’re comfortable in an automated state,” said Duane Strawn, director of Grand Prairie Parks.

But Grand Prairie has staff on site, all day, and is constantly checking the chlorine levels by hand and they can immediately shut the splash pad down if levels drop below the minimum.

“It falls below the minimum, when we blow the whistle, we clear, we add, we test,” said Strawn.

In Arlington, they’re now keeping a higher minimum chlorine level in their splash pads. Records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates showed the levels are typically between three and five parts per million. The city said that’s to keep it from ever falling near or below the state minimum level of one part per million.

Parents visiting Arlington parks can also see the most recent chlorine test for themselves by pointing the camera on their phone at a QR code posted on a sign; scanning the code will bring up the results before their kids get in the water.

Arlington is also now sharing its “Bakari Williams Protocol” with cities across the country.

“Part of our mandate is to go tell our story,” Debrecht said.

Brian Hargrove, an attorney representing the Williams family, told NBC 5 Investigates that he hopes other cities will implement the protocol and that boy’s parents hope Texas lawmakers will listen, too.

“They need to know about this. They need to know about what happened,” Hargrove said.

Hargrove said the Williams family wants the state to bring its rules in line with the new standards that both the city of Arlington and the CDC recommend.

“You know, we can’t just stop where we are at, we got to keep this going,” Hargrove said.

NBC 5 Investigates asked the Texas Department of State Health Services, the agency that administers splash pad safety rules, why the state has not adopted tougher standards. A Texas DSHS spokesperson responded by email with the following statement: “Our Consumer Protection Division is looking at the possibility of revising the PIWF (public interactive water feature) rules but does not yet have details on possible changes.”

Meanwhile, Vore said parents who are concerned about the chlorine level at area splash pads can buy a box of water test strips at most pool supply stores and use those to test the water at area parks before allowing their kids into the water. Vore said the tests can deliver results in about 15 seconds.

Below you can also browse records obtained by NBC 5 from cities across North Texas to see what safety systems and testing policies are in place.

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]]> Tue, Aug 09 2022 09:40:00 PM Ex-TxDMV Insider: Agency Created ‘Unnecessary Obstacles' for Police Pursuing Paper Tag Crooks https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/ex-txdmv-insider-agency-created-unnecessary-obstacles-for-police-pursuing-paper-tag-crooks/3033548/ 3033548 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/07/paper-tag-nation-generic-02-072722.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 A former top fraud investigator for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says agency administrators put up roadblocks that effectively prevented his team from quickly assisting police trying to stop the flood of Texas temporary license plates, sold by criminals who had gained access to the DMV’s temporary license plate system.

In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates, former TxDMV Director of Compliance and Investigations Tim Menke said he ultimately resigned from his post after being unable to persuade the department’s general counsel and executive director that his team should be allowed to share information more freely with police and federal agents investigating tag crimes.

Menke said a new general counsel who arrived at the agency in 2019 believed agency administrative rules limited the TxDMV’s ability to share sensitive vehicle records with law enforcement. Menke described this as a philosophical shift in interpreting policy, that made it harder for DMV investigators to help with ongoing criminal investigations.

As NBC 5 Investigates has documented in an eight-month-long series of reports, the sale of fraudulent Texas temporary tags eventually grew into a $200+ million black market business, aided by a lack of thorough background checks at the TxDMV which allowed people to obtain car dealer licenses without an in-person interview or submitting fingerprints.

Some “dealerships” were opened by people using stolen identities, DMV officials have acknowledged. Those dealers were then able to access the state’s tag system, issue tags, and enter false vehicle and driver information.

As NBC 5’s reporting has documented, some fraudulent tags were then put on cars used to commit other crimes, making it more difficult for police to track the bad guys.

Tim Menke

Recently, state lawmakers have been asking how the sale of illegal tags continued in large numbers for so long, and why the TxDMV was not more successful in stopping it.

“At some point, somebody’s got to answer to this committee and the legislature as to why it would take so long, and why the media has to be the one that uncovers it,” said State Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), Chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee at a committee hearing earlier this year.

The question Canales posed is perhaps more puzzling when you consider that in 2017 the state legislature gave the TxDMV funding to hire its own team of experienced fraud investigators, a team that Menke was eventually hired to lead.

Menke arrived at the TxDMV in early 2018 with decades of experience in federal law enforcement, as a top health care fraud investigator in the Department of Health & Human Services and as an agent in the U.S. state department where he was involved in diplomatic security and counterterrorism.

In his new post at the TxDMV Menke said he was alarmed to learn crooks were getting car dealer licenses and then selling fraudulent Texas tags in states as far away as New York.

“With my counterterrorism background and the identity theft associated with these temporary tags, my concern was that there could be a catastrophic event associated with the temp tags,” Menke said.

The “catastrophic event” Menke said he worried about most, was the possibility that terrorists might put a fraudulent tag on a vehicle used to deliver an explosive device.

“That would make us all look bad, and I don’t know if you can put a dollar sign on the possible loss of life,” Menke told NBC 5 Investigates.

NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman, left, talks with Tim Menke, right.

Menke said he directed his staff to coordinate with state and federal agencies already conducting tag fraud investigations.

His team had one shortcoming: they were not commissioned officers with guns and badges, but they would be able to assist police and federal agencies by providing quick access to vehicle and dealer records needed to track the fraudsters and unravel their criminal networks.

But Menke said his efforts to work more swiftly with police were eventually met with pushback inside the TxDMV.

“In the spring of 2019, things changed. Almost an adversarial role with law enforcement started being ingrained in the culture,” Menke said.

That culture shift, Menke said, came with the arrival of a new top DMV lawyer, Tracey Beaver, the agency’s general counsel.

Menke said that Beaver viewed the TxDMV as an administrative agency that should not be involved in law enforcement.

“I think she had a very conservative and narrow philosophy as to what could be given to law enforcement and under what circumstances,” Menke said.

Menke argued state and federal law generally allow agencies to share confidential vehicle and driver records with police in criminal investigations. But he said Beaver took the position that the TxDMV’s own administrative rules put stricter privacy limits on sharing.

“The philosophy had changed. I wasn’t comfortable with it because I think it was making it harder for law enforcement to get the information they needed in criminal investigations, which is directly contrary to why I was hired,” Menke said.

NBC 5 Investigates spoke with two former TxDMV staffers who confirmed details of Menke’s account.

Ultimately, Menke said Beaver required his team to jump through hoops that made it nearly impossible to quickly assist the police.

Every time an officer asked Menke’s team for a new piece of information, Menke said, Beaver expected his team to follow a TxDMV rule that said officers must fill out a form and provide their credentials. Menke said Beaver insisted on that even if the officer was already working with the TxDMV in an ongoing investigation

“Think of someone you work with four or five days per week as a business relationship, and every time you change the topic, you have to stop and say, ‘I’m sorry, I need your picture before I give you any more information.’ How long do you think that relationship is going to last?” Menke asked.

PAPER TAG NATION

paper tag nation Jun 30, 2022

Texas DMV to Require Fingerprinting for Car Dealers After Abuse of Paper Tag System

paper tag nation May 18, 2022

TxDMV Names New Executive Director Amid Paper Tag Crisis

paper tag nation May 3, 2022

Dallas Police Shut Down Accused Fake Paper Tag Dealer

Tracey Beaver declined to be interviewed for this report but instead released the following statement to NBC 5 Investigates:

”As general counsel for the TxDMV, any legal advice rendered for the agency as my client is confidential attorney-client privileged communication. The TxDMV is not a law enforcement agency. The TxDMV was always supportive of law enforcement efforts. I was happy to support TxDMV in their partnership with law enforcement.”

Menke said Beaver was not supportive and eventually ordered an audit of his division which found that his investigators were violating TxDMV rules when sharing information with police. It left Menke feeling the agency was more interested in questioning his team that the crooked car dealers who were selling tags.

“If the non-franchised, used car dealers would have been under the same scrutiny that the department put law enforcement under, I’m not sure we would be here today,” Menke said.

NBC 5 Investigates requested a copy of the audit of Menke’s division. The TxDMV has asked the Texas Attorney General for permission to withhold the release of the records saying they contain confidential information. But in a letter to the AG’s office, the TxDMV confirmed that the audit of Menke’s division was in fact requested by the general counsel’s office.

NBC 5 Senior Investigative Reporter Scott Friedman shows a letter from the Texas DMV to the Texas Attorney General which confirmed an audit of the agency’s Compliance and Investigations division was requested by the TxDMV general counsel’s office.

Eventually, Menke said he went to then TxDMV Executive Director Whitney Brewster to complain about the general counsel and ask for changes in the policies that he believed were preventing faster cooperation with law enforcement.

Email records that NBC 5 Investigates obtained through an open records request confirm Menke expressed concerns in a meeting with Brewster in July 2019.

When asked how Brewster responded to his concerns, Menke told NBC 5 Investigates, “She said well the board likes the general counsel, so she’s not going anywhere.”

As the months passed, frustration grew among police investigating tag fraud causes.

In Travis County, constables investigating tag fraud eventually served a search warrant on the Texas DMV in March 2020 to obtain information they were seeking in a major tag fraud case.

Menke said it didn’t have to be that way.

“That took place, and as a retired federal agent in that position, that is supposed to cooperate and communicate with law enforcement, it was embarrassing,” Menke said.

Menke ultimately felt his team was out of options. If they kept sharing with law enforcement, they could be found in violation of DMV rules again. But if they stopped working swiftly to assist officers, the criminals might get away.

“I was in a no-win situation, and that’s why I took an off-ramp. And I just decided to move on to other employment at that time,” Menke said. 

He resigned in February 2021.

In August of that year, the division Menke was hired to create was disbanded and merged into another DMV division.

Three months later, in November 2021, an NBC 5 investigation exposed how rogue dealers were continuing to sell hundreds of thousands of tags, raking in millions in illicit profits.

In February 2022, Brewster resigned as executive director as the agency’s board demanded swifter action to address the tag troubles.

Tracey Beaver, left, and Whitney Brewster right, during a Texas DMV board meeting.

Two days later Beaver also resigned. Her resignation letter gave no explanation for her decision except to say, “like all good things, my tenure at the agency must come to an end.”

Menke hopes new DMV leadership will be more aggressive about sharing information with police.

“I just think the obstacles that were put in front of law enforcement’s way were unnecessary,” Menke said.

NBC 5 Investigates made numerous attempts to reach former executive director Brewster for this report, but messages were not returned.

Before she resigned, Brewster told NBC 5 in interviews that the agency was working aggressively to stop the illegal sale of tags. But Brewster said the DMV was unable to immediately suspend crooked car dealers from the state’s electronic tag system until the legislature passed a new law in 2021 which gave the TxDMV more authority to swiftly revoke access in cases where fraud was suspected.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, Jul 27 2022 09:11:50 PM Texas Power Grid on the Edge of Breaking a Historic Record https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-power-grid-on-the-edge-of-breaking-a-historic-record/3019860/ 3019860 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/07/texas-power-lines-ercot.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 On Wednesday, the state’s power grid briefly crossed a historic threshold.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the power grid, said demand for electricity briefly topped 80,000 megawatts for the first time ever, exceeding even the worst-case scenario ERCOT envisioned in its most extreme forecasts prior to the start of the summer. 

ERCOT said usage did not remain above 80,000 megawatts long enough to consider it to be an “official record”, but ERCOT’s on-line grid tracker showed demand during the peak hours of the afternoon remained above 79,900 MW for some time.

So far, the grid has been up to the historic test.

ERCOT

ERCOT Jul 13, 2022

ERCOT Issues Energy ‘Watch' Wednesday, Makes 2nd Conservation Call This Week

ERCOT Jul 13, 2022

What Do ERCOT's Energy Emergency Alerts Mean?

Power industry sources told NBC 5 Wednesday they did not anticipate any problems, barring any unexpected failures at a large number of power plants and ERCOT finished the day without issuing any kind of emergency alerts.

To put the 80,000-megawatt number into perspective, that’s more power than California and New York state are expected to consume Wednesday afternoon — combined.

California’s peak demand was about 40,000 megawatts Wednesday afternoon and New York state was about 30,000, according to each state’s real-time grid tracking information posted online.

ERCOT’s seasonal forecast predicted the state would not top 77,000 megawatts this summer even in the most extreme weather — so 80,000 megawatts is a number not expected by the experts. But this has been a summer of soaring heat and shattering power records. Wednesday was the 11th time this year that Texas set a new all-time record for consuming electricity.

ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones said Wednesday in an interview with NBC News that his team is preparing for the possibility that this summer could top 2011, the hottest on record.

“We are approaching 2011 temperatures now and we are approaching a 2011 summer and the grid is holding together and I have high confidence that it will continue to do so throughout the summer,” Jones said.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation has said Texas is at generally at greater risk of rolling blackouts if the state would have a prolonged heat wave, and days with low supplies of wind generation combined with a high number of outages at traditional power plants, particularly in the early evening hours when solar power is no longer available.

That’s a trifecta of problems ERCOT is working to avoid ,and so far those efforts have been successful.

On Wednesday the grid held strong with coal, gas, and nuclear plants turning out massive amounts of power while the state was also getting help from almost 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy, with ample supplies of wind and sun.

Other Reports From NBC 5 Investigates

Digital Series: Powerless

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NBC 5 Investigates: Why Texans Were So Unprepared to End Up Powerless

nbc 5 investigates Apr 29, 2021

NBC 5 Investigates Which Power Plants Left Texans Powerless in February

nbc 5 investigates May 11, 2021

NBC 5 Investigates: What Texas Could Learn From Colder States to Prevent Blackouts

nbc 5 investigates May 20, 2021

NBC 5 Investigates: What Texas Can Learn About Keeping Wind Farms Running in Winter Weather

powerless Jun 23, 2021

NBC 5 Investigates: Why ERCOT's Winter Forecasting Miss May Spell Summer Trouble

ERCOT Sep 22, 2021

NBC5 Investigates: How The Gas Industry Profited While Downplaying Role In Winter Outages

]]> Wed, Jul 20 2022 05:58:57 PM Texas DMV to Require Fingerprinting for Car Dealers After Abuse of Paper Tag System https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dmv-to-require-fingerprinting-for-car-dealers-after-abuse-of-paper-tag-system/3004274/ 3004274 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/06/texas-dmv-board-sg.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas DMV Board adopted a plan for stiffer background checks on people applying for Texas car dealer licenses Thursday, including fingerprinting applicants.

This major change stems from a seven-month-long NBC 5 investigation which revealed how a lack of thorough vetting by the Texas DMV allowed criminals to become licensed car dealers and then sell temporary license plates for millions in black market profits.

NBC 5 Investigates’ reporting revealed the DMV did not fingerprint people applying for car dealer licenses – or meet with them in person before giving them a license.

This allowed crooks, some using stolen identities, to obtain dealer’s licenses and gain access to the DMV’s temporary tag system. Once inside they could print temporary tags and sell them illegally.

Our investigation showed show some dealers that sold illicit tags were willing to enter fake names and addresses into the state’s registration system, creating tags for what police call “ghost cars” that are harder to track.

“Fraudsters are going to do fraud no matter what,” said Sgt. Joe Escribano, who pushed for years for DMV to crack down. “But at least you (now) have some measures in place.”

The change requires owners who apply for car dealer licenses to submit fingerprints and existing owners when they renew their licenses.

By one law enforcement estimate, more than 1.2 million illicit tags were sold in 2021 alone.

The DMV is working on other changes as well, including allowing police to access their dealer database to conduct fraud investigations.

NBC 5’s Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

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]]> Thu, Jun 30 2022 10:30:09 AM Police Make Bogus Tag Bust Tied to Social Media Ads https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/police-make-bogus-tag-bust-tied-to-social-media-ads/2981831/ 2981831 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/paper-tag-nation-tag-sale-01.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Law enforcement officials in Central Texas hope the arrest of a man accused of selling a fake Texas temporary license plate could lead to more information about who is behind a series of Facebook ads advertising bogus tags for sale.

The arrest comes as welcome news for a Fort Worth car dealer, whose company name has been used on fictitious tags that the dealership did not issue.

As NBC 5 Investigates has reported, numerous ads seen on Facebook Marketplace in recent months have offered fraudulent tags containing the name of a Fort Worth car dealer, Powerplay Motors. But the license numbers that appear on those tags were not issued by Powerplay.

PAPER TAG NATION

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Vehicle Used in Dallas Salon Shooting Had Paper Tag

Instead, authorities said, they are old numbers issued by other dealers that have already been shut down by the Texas DMV for selling fraudulent tags.

A report from the Travis County Constable’s Office in Austin said in May an undercover officer responded to one of those Facebook ads for a Powerplay Motors tag and the person who answered helped arrange a meeting to deliver the tag to the buyer in a shopping center parking lot.

Travis County Constable’s Office videos of the arrest showed an undercover officer exchanging $75 for the tag, then officers positioned nearby swooped in and pulled the driver over shortly after leaving the parking lot.

Constables surrounded the suspect’s truck shouting, “Hands out the window,” and approached the truck with guns drawn. It’s considered a high-risk felony traffic stop because selling a fictitious temporary tag is a state jail felony.

“They’re taking him down at gunpoint. We don’t know who he is,” one of the constables said on the video as his car pulls in behind the truck.

The arrest is a relief for the owner of Powerplay Motors, Domynyque Lopez. For months Lopez said her dealership has received calls from police across Texas and even in other states, where the bogus tags with her dealership’s name have been found on vehicles stopped by police.

“I didn’t make the tags, obviously, the tags are fictitious. It’s unfortunate what’s taking place. It’s a mess of things that have taken place,” Lopez told NBC 5 Investigates.

Lopez wants Facebook to do more to stop the ads.

Domynyque Lopez
Domynyque Lopez, owner of Powerplay Motors, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.

Facebook told NBC 5 Investigates it is working with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and is trying to remove all the ads which violate Facebook policies that prohibit the sale of fraudulent documents.

Lopez and her attorney hope the recent arrest in Austin could help lead police to any possible network of people behind the ads.

“A single arrest being made is obviously a good sign. We would hope to see a bit more coming from that,” said Lopez’s attorney, Blerim Elmazi.

Travis County Constables said the Facebook profile advertising the tag involved in the recent arrest used a profile picture of a woman and could be connected to someone in Venezuela. So, it’s unclear if the man arrested for selling the tag was involved in posting the ads or just delivered the tag to someone else.

The blurred Facebook page investigators said was used to advertise the sale of fake license tags in Texas.

With social media pages and cash apps, fraudulent tag sales can be made from virtually anywhere, investigators said.

Lopez hopes the police will continue to dig and find out who is involved.

“So, the fact that I guess something is being done to resolve the matter and hopefully cease is awesome,” Lopez said.

NBC 5 Investigates attempted to reach the man arrested in the Travis County case, but those attempts were unsuccessful. He is facing a charge of unauthorized sale of temporary tags.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, May 31 2022 09:37:47 PM Abbott's Border Buses Cost $1,400+ Per Rider, Taxpayers Could be Stuck With Bills https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/abbotts-border-buses-cost-1400-per-rider-taxpayers-could-be-stuck-with-bills/2993548/ 2993548 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/06/vlcsnap-2022-06-15-19h12m17s733.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has obtained state records showing the cost of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan to bus undocumented immigrants from the border to Washington D.C. has cost more than $1,400 per rider so far.

It’s a price tag that is higher than the cost of a first class plane ticket from some Texas border towns to the nation’s capital. 

The documents, obtained through an open records request to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM), show busing costs exceeded $1.6 million in April and May, and the total bill may be higher. The records suggest the state has not received invoices for all of the trip expenses yet.

Passenger logs TDEM provided show 1,154 passengers were transported in the early months of the program. That means the approximate per-passenger cost has been at least $1,442.

COMPARING COSTS

In an online search this week, NBC 5 Investigates found plane tickets from border towns McAllen and Del Rio, Texas, to Washington D.C. for about $200-$300. First class tickets were in the $800-900 range, still less than the cost of a seat on the Republican governor’s border buses. 

Our search showed that even a coach plane ticket and a night at a five-star hotel near the White House could cost about half of the price of the state-funded bus trips.

‘BRINGING THE BORDER TO BIDEN’

Abbott announced the busing program in April, describing it as an effort to take, what he calls President Joe Biden’s “mess” at the border, and drop it on Washington’s doorstep.

“We are sending them (undocumented immigrants) to the United States Capitol where the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border,” Abbott said during a news conference on April 6.

FUNDRAISING EFFORTS LAG BEHIND SPENDING

But the records provided by TDEM, which manages the busing program, suggest that instead of saddling Washington with border burdens, the buses may saddle Texas taxpayers with big expenses for transportation that could be provided at a much lower cost.

Abbott has pledged to raise private funds to help offset the cost of the trips, but his office’s website shows only about $112,000 raised, while the TDEM records show expenses exceeding $1.6 million so far.

Meanwhile, some aid organizations in Washington D.C. argue the buses are not straining the resources of the federal government, as Abbott hoped. Instead, they say the burden has fallen on local D.C. charities that have stepped forward to assist migrants who are left at the curb when the governor’s border buses pull into the city.

“He could do it in a much better way. But again, we’ve always felt that this is a political stunt by him trying to make a political point,” said Abel Nunez, Executive Director of Central American Resource Center in Washington, a group that meets many of the Texas buses when they arrive in D.C.

‘THEY ARE MOVING ON’

Nunez said more than 90% of the passengers his group encounters do not intend to stay in the Washington D.C. area.

“They are moving on to other parts of the country,” Nunez said.

Another aid group, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, purchases plane and bus tickets to help many of the Texas bus riders travel on to their final destinations.

“We had one (passenger) who was going to Houston, Texas. That was his final destination. So, he was bused up here, and then we put him on a plane to Houston,” said Sister Sharlet Wagner, with Catholic Charities.

“It would be wonderful if they’d buy just an economy (plane) ticket and send them to where they want to go instead of putting them on a bus to Washington, D.C..,” Wagner added.

ABBOTT’S OFFICE RESPONDS

In a statement to NBC 5 Investigates, an Abbott spokesperson said the governor had “received an outpouring of support” for the program, touting the private funds raised so far. The spokesperson, Renae Eze, said the buses are having their intended effect of putting pressure on the feds.

“The Biden Administration has responded by slowing their dumping efforts-unintentionally providing relief to these overwhelmed border communities…,” Eze said.

Eze did not respond directly to questions from NBC 5 investigates about whether the program could be managed in a more cost-effective way.

Records provided by TDEM show the cost of the bus trips has ballooned largely because the state hires security guards to ride each bus. Security-related expenses alone topped $1 million in the early weeks of the program, according to the TDEM records. The total costs are also driven higher by the fact that the buses typically travel from San Antonio to the border, then to Washington D.C., and then finally back to Texas, traveling empty on the return trip. The state gets billed for all of the mileage along the way.

Some passengers who ride the buses said they are grateful Texas is spending money to help them move cross-country.

“A very good idea, a very good idea,” said one recent passenger who told NBC 5 she had fled her home country of Colombia and was thankful that Texas gave her a lift to Washington, putting her one step closer to her final destination…in New Jersey.

IMMIGRATION IN AMERICA

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]]> Wed, Jun 15 2022 09:35:39 PM Ex-DCS Superintendent Who Took Bribes Released Early, Serving Sentence at Home https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/ex-dcs-superintendent-who-took-bribes-released-early-serving-sentence-at-home/2987947/ 2987947 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/06/Rick-Sorrells.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has learned former Dallas County Schools superintendent, Rick Sorrells, has been moved from prison to home confinement, after serving only about one-third of his seven-year sentence behind bars.

Sorrells took millions of dollars in bribes in a scheme that cost taxpayers a fortune and ultimately shut down DCS, the special school district that once operated student transportation in Dallas and many surrounding communities.  

The Federal Bureau of Prisons tells NBC 5, that Sorrells was transferred to home confinement in March under a COVID-19 policy designed to reduce the number of inmates in federal prisons.

For security reasons, prison officials won’t say if Sorrells is at home or in a halfway house. But, two sources familiar with his movements told NBC 5 that Sorrells is living at a private home located in Dallas County.

DCS EMPLOYEES DISAPPOINTED IN SORRELLS MOVE

News of Sorrells move to more comfortable quarters angers some former DCS employees, who see this as a big break for a man who inflicted major damage both on taxpayers and on workers who lost jobs after voters elected to close the agency in the wake of the scandal. In recent weeks, some in the community have reached out to NBC5 Investigates asking if we could confirm rumors, and even reported sightings of Sorrells in the Dallas area.

“He had caused a lot of grief,” said Delna Bryan, a former union leader who once represented workers including school bus drivers at DCS.

Bryan can’t believe Sorrells prison stay was so short.

After just 30 months of an 84-month sentence, The Federal Bureau of Prisons moved Sorrells to home confinement instead.

“Can he look himself in the mirror every day and say that justice is being done? I don’t think so,” said Bryan.

In 2019, Sorrells was sentenced to seven years behind bars.

At the time, Federal Judge Barbara Lynn deemed Sorrells the “most culpable” for the bribery scandal that destroyed DCS, the 171-year-old agency that provided school bus transportation for nine districts.

In court documents, Sorrells admitted taking more than $3 million dollars in bribes. Federal prosecutors told the judge it might be the largest known bribe amount ever paid to a United States official.

According to prosecutors, Sorrells spent some of the cash on a Maserati and a fancy apartment in New Orleans where NBC 5 Investigates found him in 2017.

The apartment, we discovered, was next door to one belonging to Robert Leonard, the school bus camera company CEO who later admitted bribing Sorrells in exchange for contracts that ultimately cost Dallas County taxpayers an estimated $125 million dollars in losses.

“One of the basic elements of why we even sentence people to long sentences is to punish them,” said Jay Dewald, a former federal prosecutor who was not involved in the DCS case.

Dewald says, in the past, federal inmates could only serve about the final 10% of their sentence at home.

NEW PRISON POLICIES MAKE SORRELLS MOVE POSSIBLE

But a new Bureau of Prison’s COVID-19 policy has made more inmates eligible for early transfers along with a 2018 federal law called the First Step Act, which was designed to move more non-violent offenders to home confinement or even give them the opportunity to earn reduced sentences.

Dewald says the recent changes have opened the door, even for corrupt public officials to serve more of their time at home.

“Now it’s benefiting some folks who I think everyone would generally agree, do not deserve that kind of benefit of getting out early,” said Dewald.

Court records show Sorrells began asking for home confinement just seven months into his sentence. 

He first petitioned the prison warden saying he was at “high risk” of “severe complications” from COVID-19 because he is in his 60s and has chronic health conditions.

In January, Sorrells then wrote to a federal judge asking for “compassionate release” saying the prison never responded to his request.

Sorrells told the judge he had a “mild case of COVID” in prison in 2020 and then had a “severe allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine” preventing him from being fully vaccinated. 

“I am asking that my sentence not be a death sentence,” Sorrells wrote.

Before the judge could rule on that request, the Bureau of Prisons transferred Sorrells to home confinement.

In 2019, a group of former DCS employees pleaded with the government to give Sorrells the maximum prison time possible and hold him accountable for paying back millions of taxpayers lost.

“We all worked so hard to make people proud of Dallas County Schools and then we find out he’s a crook,” said former DCS employee, Mike Williams, in a 2019 NBC 5 report.

Williams recently told NBC 5, “I am disappointed that Rick Sorrells will not serve his entire sentence in prison. Moreover, I am appalled that restitution to the taxpayers of Dallas County has not been completely paid.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT STATUS OF SORRELLS RESTITUTION

Federal prosecutors declined to say how much Sorrells still owes in restitution.

Court records show in 2020 he had only paid about $500 dollars of the $125 million in restitution he’s been ordered to pay along with two other defendants convicted in the case.

In January, records show Sorrells received credit for about $50,000 from the sale of property the FBI seized during the investigation.

Beyond that $50,000, it’s not clear how much Sorrells has paid.

Meanwhile, court records show Sorrells has continued to receive a $5,000 per month state pension from his job at DCS but prosecutors have been working to garnish a portion of those checks.

Jay Dewald expects the U.S, Attorney’s office will keep pursuing Sorrells for more payments to prevent him from living a life of luxury, even if he’s no longer behind bars.

“I think I think they’re going to stay on top of it having been there, having seen it, I have that level of faith in their in their commitment and their resolve,” said Dewald.

“I want it paid back and every penny of it paid back for all the harm that he has done, said Bryan, the former union leader.

NBC 5 Investigates made several attempts to reach Rick Sorrells. Through an attorney, he declined to comment.

Sorrells apologized when he was sentenced in 2019 saying he made a mistake and begged the judge for forgiveness.

At the time, Judge Lynn acknowledged that the $125 million in restitution would likely never be paid in full.

The Bureau of Prisons did not elaborate on why it decided to release Sorrells to home confinement but pointed to its policy for increasing the use of home confinement under COVID-19. A spokesman also declined to say what sort of restrictions Sorrells is under while he is in home confinement.

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]]> Wed, Jun 08 2022 09:58:00 PM State Police Blame Uvalde Scene Commander for Delayed Response https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/state-police-blame-uvalde-scene-commander-for-delayed-response/2980029/ 2980029 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/TLMD-texas-uvalde-may-27-2022-steven-mccraw-GettyImages-1240937927.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Investigators said Friday that the scene commander at the Uvalde school shooting chose to wait for additional help instead of continuing to attempt entry to a classroom where students had been shot and the gunman barricaded himself behind a locked door.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw called it “the wrong decision,” added there was “no excuse,” and said that officers should have continued trying to engage the gunman long before units with more equipment and manpower arrived.

After three days of inconsistent timeline accounts from Texas DPS officials, McCraw acknowledged it was more than one hour and 15 minutes from the time the first officers entered the school building until they entered the classroom and killed the gunman, after finally obtaining keys to the room from a school janitor.

UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING

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At a news conference Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said information police had provided him earlier in the week was partly inaccurate. Abbott had previously praised the officers for a fast response and said they saved lives.

Friday afternoon the governor said he had been misled and was livid.

“I am absolutely livid about that and here is my expectation, that the law enforcement leaders that are leading the investigations, which are the Texas Rangers and the FBI, that they get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty,” Abbott said.

McCraw said Friday that the gunman entered the school building at 11:33 a.m. Tuesday through a back door a teacher had left propped open.

Within two minutes, three officers entered the same door and four others entered moments later as the first three attempted to reach the classroom.

UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING

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“The three initial police officers that arrived went directly to the door and to receive grazing wounds at that time from the suspect while the door was closed,” McCraw said.

Over the next 30 minutes, he said more officers enter the building, 19 in all, but they still do not enter the classroom.

“In fact, there was plenty of officers to do whatever needed to be done. With one exception is that the incident commander inside believed they needed more equipment and more officers to do a tactical breach at that point,” said McCraw.

Director and Colonel of the Texas Department of Public Safety Steven C. McCraw speaks at a press conference using a crime scene outline of the Robb Elementary School showing the path of the gunman, outside the school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 27, 2022.

Late Friday, two senior federal law enforcement officials told NBC News that members of the US Border Patrol’s elite tactical team arrived at the school between noon and 12:15 p.m. but that they were first instructed by local law enforcement to wait and not go after the gunman. After approximately 30 minutes the officials said the Border Patrol agents went against the guidance they were given and lead a “stack” of officers in entering the classroom.

A stack maneuver typically involves officers lined up behind a ballistic shield to provide cover and direct additional firepower toward the shooter.  

As officers waited to enter the room, McCraw said police began receiving 911 calls from two people trapped in the classroom.

“At 12:16 (one person) called back and said there was eight to nine students alive,” McCraw said.

A makeshift memorial for the shooting victims outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 27, 2022.

Videos taken outside the building show parents pleading with police during that time, even offering to storm the building themselves.

“Other parents are going in the front to shoot him already,” one parent shouted.

Finally at 12:50 p.m., more than an hour and 15 minutes after the shooting began, McCraw said police and members of the Border Patrol tactical team entered the room and killed the suspect.

“They breached the door using keys that they’re able to get from the janitor,” said McCraw.

McCraw said the scene commander, who he identified as the local school district police chief, should not have waited. 

“Of course, it was not the right decision, it was the wrong decision. There was no excuse for that. But again, I wasn’t there. But I’m just telling you from what we know. We believe there should have been an entry at that as soon as you can,” said McCraw.

McCraw said the commander believed the shooter did not pose a risk to any more children barricaded behind the door.

He said it was not clear if 9-1-1 operators told officers the victims that were calling were still alive.

Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw takes questions from the media outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, May 27, 2022.

NBC5 made several attempts to reach the Uvalde CISD police chief Friday, but messages were not immediately returned. Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Licensing (TCOLE) records obtained by NBC5 Investigates said the chief is a 26 year law enforcement veteran, and that he last took the state’s required police officer active shooter training course just five months ago, in December.

The TCLOE active shooter training curriculum reminds officers, “Time is the number one enemy during active shooter response.” 

It sayas officers should continue trying to reach the gunman “…even if that means one officer acting alone.”

“You don’t have to have a leader on the scene. Every officer lines up, stacks up … and keeps shooting until the subject is dead. Period,” said McCraw.

For families of the victims, the delays are hard to comprehend.

“My brother was ready to give his life for his daughter and they keep pushing him and pushing back. And he told them, ‘Because, why is there just 22 guys standing there doing nothing? We all go in there,’” said Jose Cazares, uncle to one of the victims that died.

]]> Fri, May 27 2022 06:43:28 PM TxDMV Names New Executive Director Amid Paper Tag Crisis https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/txdmv-names-new-executive-director-amid-paper-tag-crisis/2971923/ 2971923 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/texas-dmv-interim-exec-director-daniel-avitia.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles officially has a new leader to steer the agency in the wake of the crisis involving the widespread sale of fraudulent paper license plates.

At a meeting Wednesday, the TxDMV board selected Daniel Avitia as the agency’s executive director.

Avitia has served as the agency’s acting executive director for much of 2022.

Whitney Brewster, the agency’s former executive director, stepped down earlier this year as the board called for more sweeping changes to deal with the ongoing paper tag problem.

In selecting Avitia, board members praised his efforts to address the recent crisis. 

“I think you have done an incredible job of stepping into a very tumultuous time,” TxDMV Board Member Manny Ramirez said, addressing Avitia at Wednesday’s meeting.

Paper Tag Nation

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Texas' Paper Tag Problem Compounded by Small Dealers Misusing Them

As a series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates has shown, lax security at the TxDMV allowed crooks to obtain Texas car dealer licenses and then sell massive numbers of fraudulent paper tags for profit.

Law enforcement officials said many of those tags have false driver information entered into the state system, creating what police call “ghost cars,” which make it difficult for police to determine the real owner of the vehicle.

Some of the fraudulent tags sold on the black market have been put on cars used to commit other serious crimes, including drug and human smuggling and violent crimes, the NBC 5 investigation has shown.

On Wednesday, Avitia said the agency continues to step up its efforts to block dealers suspected of fraud from accessing the state’s electronic temporary plate system. Since the start of this year, Avitia said the DMV has suspended access for 50 small dealers.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, May 18 2022 06:06:35 PM Vehicle Used in Dallas Salon Shooting Had Paper Tag https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/vehicle-used-in-dallas-salon-shooting-had-paper-tag/2971003/ 2971003 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/dallas-salon-shooting-van.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has learned the vehicle used by the man suspected of opening fire inside a Dallas hair salon earlier this month had a type of Texas temporary paper license plate that can make it more difficult for police to locate the owner of the car.

The shooting, in the city’s Koreatown neighborhood, wounded three Asian women in what police have described as a hate crime.

NBC 5 obtained the tag number for the vehicle from a Dallas Police arrest warrant affidavit. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles then confirmed Tuesday that the tag is what’s known as a “vehicle specific tag,” a type of paper tag that’s supposed to be used by car dealers, primarily for test drives or moving vehicles from one dealer to another.

It’s not clear why the suspect in the salon shooting, 37-year-old Jeremy Theron Smith, would have had one of these dealer tags, and Dallas police did not immediately respond to questions about the tag Tuesday night.

The TxDMV told NBC 5 Investigates that the small Dallas County dealership that issued the tag had its dealer license revoked in April for violations of TxDMV rules, although the department would not say what specific rules were broken.

Vehicle-specific tags are registered to a dealership and not to a person. So, if the vehicle is involved in a crime, police would first have to contact the dealer to find out who is driving the car, which can slow down an investigation.

But in this case, Dallas police appear to have made a major break in the case thanks to some high-tech policing.

According to a police affidavit, investigators were able to use data collected by license plate readers which had previously captured images of the paper tag on Smith’s car parked multiple times at an address in Dallas. Officers were then able to go to that address and locate the car.

For months, an ongoing NBC 5 Investigation has shown how paper tags are causing major headaches for police investigating crimes across the state because they can often make it harder to identify the owner of a car.

DALLAS SALON SHOOTING

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Hundreds of thousands of fraudulent paper tags have been sold illegally for profit, according to law enforcement investigators. And, our reporting has also shown how small dealers often misuse paper tags by putting certain types of temporary tags on cars that should not have them, creating even more challenges for police trying to sort out which ones are legitimate or not.

Texas lawmakers are now considering scrapping the state’s paper tag system to resolve ongoing safety concerns.

Tuesday, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson told NBC 5 he wanted more action to deal with the tag problem saying in a statement, “…we will need more help from other law enforcement agencies and from Austin during the next legislative session. We all must work together to put public safety first and stop the unscrupulous dealers, criminals and criminal enterprises that are using these tags.”

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, May 17 2022 09:49:36 PM Ads for Fake Tags Persist, Despite Facebook, TxDMV Efforts https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/ads-for-fake-tags-persist-despite-facebook-txdmv-efforts/2965590/ 2965590 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/paper-tag-nation-facebook-ads-04.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says its staff is working with Facebook to block people from using the social media platform to sell fraudulent Texas temporary license plates.

But despite those ongoing efforts, NBC 5 Investigates found new ads continue to pop up, frustrating law enforcement officials trying to stop the illegal sale of fraudulent tags, which are sometimes used to facilitate other crimes.

NBC 5 viewers continue to flag the ads and send them to our NBC 5 Investigates team, some asking us how the tags can be marketed out in the open when police say it is illegal to sell them? Temporary tags are only supposed to be issued by car dealers at the time of a vehicle sale, and tags should never be sold.

Our investigation found some of the tags currently offered for sale on Facebook are counterfeits that were never issued out of the TxDMV’s tag system.  But the counterfeits contain the names of real car dealers and sometimes even real plate numbers that were issued in the past by other dealers.

Police said it’s a sign that crooks are adapting their tactics after the TxDMV has taken steps to block licensed car dealers suspected of selling tags, by suspending their access to the state’s online tag system.

WHO IS BEHIND THE ADS?

NBC 5 Investigates messaged some of the people who posted ads for paper tags on Facebook to see if the tags being offered for sale were issued by licensed dealers or whether the tags were forged.

Our team did not offer to purchase any tags but instead asked lots of questions, like how much the sellers charge, what information they would need before selling a tag and whether the tags they are offering for sale are legitimate?

Some sellers responded to our messages right away, indicating that they could provide tags in just minutes and take payment via various cash apps.

A person offering a paper license tag for sale talks with NBC 5 Investigates through Facebook Messenger.

One seller, with a profile that said he’s from Arlington, messaged back and said he charged $40. When we asked if the tags were legit he responded by sending a photo. The picture showed the tag was issued by a car dealer called MIR Motors.

We know that tag is fraudulent because the TxDMV blocked MIR Motors from issuing tags months ago after law enforcement identified MIR as a dealer suspected of selling tags for profit.

Police told NBC 5 Investigates the crooks are now selling counterfeit tags with the names of MIR and other dealers police and the DMV have already busted.

FORT WORTH DEALER CAUGHT IN THE MESS

Other Facebook ads we saw showed images of tags purportedly issued by small car dealers that are still in business, including Powerplay Motors, a dealer located in Fort Worth.

Powerplay’s owner, Domynyque Lopez, told NBC 5 Investigates that police officers have been calling her from across the country investigating cars with bogus Powerplay Motors tags, but the tags were not issued by her dealership.

“When they pull it up in the system, they’re like, ‘Well, that car says it’s a Nissan Altima, but the tag is saying it’s for a Toyota Camry – that’s not lining up,'” Lopez told NBC 5 Investigates.

Domynyque Lopez, owner of Powerplay Motors, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.

DMV records show investigators looked into many of those tags and found Powerplay Motors “did not create the tags, instead crooks put Powerplay’s name on counterfeits along with old tag numbers that were issued by other dealers.”

Lopez said she doesn’t know who is using her dealership’s name or why, but she and her attorney wish Facebook would help stop people from selling those tags online.

“I mean, if someone goes on there trying to sell drugs, they know how to monitor that. They know how to take down that post. What’s the difference?” Lopez asked.

“I think that falls on Facebook’s doorstep essentially to do something about it. And so, we expect greater from someone, or an organization, that has that sort of bandwidth to do something about it,” said Lopez’s attorney, Blerim Elmazi.

Blerim Elmahi, attorney for Powerplay Motors, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.

FACEBOOK POLICY PROHIBITS FAKE TAG ADS

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson told NBC 5 Investigates, “We prohibit the sale of fraudulent temporary tags and encourage people to report suspicious listings to us.”

The company said it has been, “collaborating with the Texas DMV to understand the scope and scale of the problem.”

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board Chairman Charles Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates staffers with the DMV are now watching Facebook Marketplace and reporting ads to the company. 

When asked if the agency is getting good cooperation from Facebook, Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates, “We could always use more, but it’s a good start.”

Texas DMV Board Chairman Charles Bacarisse, right, talks with NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman, left.

“We finally got a contact there and we’ve had conversations with them and they are helping. But that’s a slow process because it’s algorithmically driven, right?” Bacarisse said.

Facebook said some of the ads attempt to get around algorithms Facebook uses to detect suspicious posts. Some use punctuation marks or characters between letters to make it harder for algorithms to spot them, requiring the company to use human eyes to spot some posts instead.

NBC 5 Investigates has also seen some tag sellers creating Facebook groups instead of advertising on Facebook’s Marketplace.

Facebook told NBC 5 Investigates this may be another attempt to circumvent detection but that they are taking steps to remove those listings too.

PAPER TAG NATION

paper tag nation May 4, 2022

Texas' Paper Tag Problem Compounded by Small Dealers Misusing Them

paper tag nation May 3, 2022

Dallas Police Shut Down Accused Fake Paper Tag Dealer

A GAME OF WHACK-A-MOLE

“These criminals are adapting,” said police detective Mike Bradburn, who is with a special Travis County Constables unit that investigates fraudulent tags.

For Bradburn, the ads are a frustrating game of whack-a-mole.

“I can’t sit there all day and look at ads and turn them over. We just don’t have the manpower for that. I think Facebook should look into it. They prohibit other items. I don’t know why they can’t stop the tags,” Bradburn said.

Mike Bradburn, with the Travis County Constables, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.

Many of the ads NBC 5 saw online have since been pulled down by Facebook but each day there seem to be some new ones.

Facebook said it continues to improve its detection efforts and remove listings that violate its policy — which prohibits the sale of fake documents. Facebook told NBC 5 Investigates it encourages people to report the ads for counterfeit tags so the company can investigate.

But for dealers like Lopez, caught in the paper tag mess, the ads continue to frustrate.

“How can you really handle a situation when you can’t talk to anybody physically? You can’t do anything besides pushing a button that says ‘Report,’” Lopez said.

Domynyque Lopez
Domynyque Lopez, owner of Powerplay Motors, talks with NBC 5 Investigates.

Lopez is now fighting to keep her business. The TxDMV has suspended her access to its temporary tag system. If a dealer cannot print temporary tags, they cannot sell cars. 

The DMV confirmed it is still investigating Powerplay Motors but said it cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

Lopez insisted she has not sold any temporary tags and her attorney told NBC 5 Investigates she plans to appeal the DMV’s decision.

Powerplay Motors is one of more than 30 dealers the DMV has suspended this year under a crackdown on fake tags.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, May 11 2022 09:46:36 PM Texas' Paper Tag Problem Compounded by Small Dealers Misusing Them https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-paper-tag-problem-compounded-by-small-dealers-misusing-them/2958836/ 2958836 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/kxas-iteam-paper-tag-050422-01.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 An NBC 5 investigation shows just how hard it may be to get all of those Texas paper license plates off of cars that should not have them.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has been cracking down on small car dealers caught illegally selling tags. But what NBC 5 Investigates found in one local city suggests the paper tag problem goes beyond just the dealers who sold tags to cash in on black market profits.

Other dealers are misusing paper tags, putting more of them on the road, adding to headaches for law enforcement officials trying to sort out which ones are legitimate.

To get a closer look, NBC 5 Investigates focused on just Fort Worth. Through an open records request, our team obtained a TxDMV list which helped us identify small non-franchised car dealers in the city that have issued a lot of paper tags.

What we saw when we visited some of those dealers raised questions about how many misused tags or misunderstood the TxDMV rules for paper buyers tags, which are supposed to be issued to buyers at the time a car is sold.

Our dealer visits also found some small dealers are difficult to find.

SOME SMALL LOCAL DEALERS DON’T FOLLOW OR MISUNDERSTAND DMV’S TAG RULES

The first stop was a lot on east Rosedale Street in Fort Worth, the home of El Compra Auto Sales who, according to DMV records issued almost 1,100 buyer’s tags in 12 months in 2021. That’s more than some brand-name franchise auto dealers in Fort Worth.

But at the address the DMV lists for El Compa, our team found something else — a mattress and furniture store.

From outside that store, NBC 5 Investigates reached El Compa’s owner, Dora Arellano-Garcia, by phone.

NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman talks with the owner of El Compra Auto Sales by phone.

Arrellano-Garcia was adamant she does not sell paper tags on the black market. Property records showed she is part owner of the building with the furniture store, but she told us lately recently she has been selling cars online instead.

But Arellano-Garcia acknowledged that even though TxDMV records show she issued almost 1,100 buyer’s tags last year she did not sell nearly 1,100 cars.

She told us she printed more than one tag for the same car sometimes while waiting on title paperwork needed for permanent plates.

The TxDMV said issuing more than one buyer’s tag to the same car is against the rules. TxDMV board chairman Charles Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates it’s a problem that the agency is preparing to address more aggressively. He said the agency needs to do more to police, not just small dealers who sell tags, but those who misuse them too.

Texas DMV board chairman Charles Bacarisse, talking with NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman.

“I think it does have … a fraud element to it, so that’s for us to better regulate. And we’re certainly preparing to do that,” Bacarisse said in an interview.

When dealers issue multiple buyer’s tags to the same car it can allow drivers to avoid paying registration for months, and it puts more paper tags on the road. That creates additional challenges for police who are trying to spot fraudulent ones in the middle of a virtual sea of questionable tags now seen on Texas streets.

TEXAS DMV WANTS MORE INSPECTORS TO VISIT DEALERS IN PERSON

For the TxDMV, catching dealers who are misusing tags can be tough. The agency only has only 35 investigators statewide to check on more than 20,000 registered dealers.

“At the end of the day, this job can’t be done by others. This agency, the DMV, will need more people to go out, more inspectors to go out on-site,” Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates.

Inspecting small dealers may be a bigger job than anyone imagines based on what NBC 5 Investigates saw at the handful of Fort Worth dealers visited.

To start with, some are not where they are supposed to be.

TxDMV rules require dealers to have a real office, staffed during business hours and a permanent sign at their licensed address. NBC 5 Investigates didn’t see that at several licensed dealer locations we visited.

DID YOU REALLY SELL 2,200 CARS?

DMV records said a dealer called Chacon’s Auto Service should be located at a warehouse complex in North Fort Worth.

Records show Chacon’s issued more than 2,200 temporary tags in 2021 — the most of any non-franchised dealer in Fort Worth. But a neighbor told us he never saw cars in large numbers even when Chacon’s was there.

“No way, no. No amount of cars like that ever here. No traffic like that,” said neighboring business owner, Jonathan Clark.

Neighboring business owner Jonathan Clark told NBC 5 Investigates there’s no room for thousands of cars at a dealer that was once located near his Fort Worth repair shop.

Clark remembers Chacon’s once had a sign on one of the doors but doesn’t believe the dealer could have sold 2,267 cars from that location as the DMV’s records show.

“We haven’t had 2,200 cars around out here, and there’s no parking for 2,200 cars,” Clark told NBC 5 Investigates.

Over the phone, Chacon’s owner, Monica Chacon, told NBC 5 Investigates she sometimes gave car buyers more than one tag while waiting for title paperwork.

Chacon said she regretted that, and said that at times, perhaps didn’t take things as seriously as she could have when it came to understanding the TxDMV’s rules. Chacon told NBC she’s been in the process of closing the dealership.

DEALER SAYS SLOW DMV PROCESSES FORCE HIM TO PRINT MULTIPLE TAGS

Only one of four Fort Worth dealers NBC 5 Investigates visited was actually at their licensed address. That dealer, Zoom-In Auto Sale on Berry Street, issued more than 1,200 buyer’s tags in 15 months according to TxDMV records.

The owner, Saboor Jawshan, said he doesn’t think he issued that many and told NBC 5 Investigates his dealership never sold tags.

Saboor Jawshan, left, walks with NBC 5’s Scott Friedman through his parking lot.

In his parking lot, NBC 5 Investigates saw two cars with questionable tags. A check of the VIN on the tags found neither car had a state inspection in the last 180 days which means under DMV rules those cars shouldn’t have buyer’s tags.

Jawshan said he thought it was OK to put a buyer’s tag on a car and then wait to inspect it when the title is transferred to the new owner. The TxDMV told NBC 5 Investigates that’s not OK.

Last fall, the DMV issued Jawshan two warnings for misusing buyer’s tags after DMV investigators found he issued a buyer’s tag to one car that had not been inspected, and in another case printed more than one buyer’s tag for the same car.

Jawshan told NBC 5 that in some cases he was forced to issue more than one buyer’s tag to the same vehicle even though the DMV rules don’t allow that.

“They don’t allow it, at the same time I can’t leave the customers without a plate. They would come to me saying, where’s my plate?” he told NBC 5 Investigates.

Saboor Jawshan, right, tells NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman the Texas DMV needs to change the paperwork process so that dealers aren’t put in a position where they need to print multiple tags for one vehicle.

Jawshan explained that sometimes tax offices and auto auctions are slow to process title paperwork and that leaves dealers no choice but to keep handing out buyer’s tags.

He said the DMV needed to streamline the paperwork process and should focus its enforcement efforts on investigating dealers that sell tags and not those dealing with what he describes as paperwork issues.

“We did some things that we had to do at the time, but it wasn’t to be illegal or break the law or anything like that. It was just to try to get by,” said Jawshan.

TEXAS DMV TO ASK TEXAS LEGISLATURE FOR HELP

Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens wants to cut the number of questionable paper tags plastered on cars all over the city that are creating challenges for police

“The preponderance of these paper tags is overwhelming for some,” Bivens told NBC 5 Investigates.

In February, Fort Worth police launched a special operation taking dozens of illegal tags off the streets in just hours. But Bivens said keeping tabs on car dealers is the TxDMV’s job.

Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens wants the Texas DMV to make the jobs of police officers easier by doing a better job of inspecting car dealers.

“Processing of tags, that’s in their wheelhouse. We’ll police the streets, but they can make it a lot easier for everyone if they would just clean up that process,” Bivens said.

The DMV wants to help but said it can’t do it all with current staff.

“We’ll have something ready for the legislature. It will be part of our overall package when we come to them asking for support in the next legislative session,” said Bacarisse.

The TxDMV has said it plans to ask for 15 additional investigators during the next legislative session in 2023, but with more than 20,000 dealers, even 15 additional investigators would leave about 400 dealers per investigator.

It appears there is plenty of work for more inspectors with many questionable tags still on the roads.

Driving through one east side Fort Worth neighborhood recently, NBC 5 Investigates spotted 14 paper tags in less than 10 minutes. Four tags were expired. One was issued by LeNoir Lane LLC, a dealer the DMV shut down and was suspected of selling tags.

At first glance, it’s hard to tell how many of the other tags are legit or not.

PAPER TAG NATION

paper tag nation Apr 26, 2022

‘Somebody's Got to Answer,' Legislators Press Texas DMV Over Paper Tag Debacle

paper tag nation Apr 14, 2022

Texas DMV Cracks Down on Dealers Selling Temporary Paper Tags

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, May 04 2022 09:50:38 PM Dallas Police Shut Down Accused Fake Paper Tag Dealer https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-police-shut-down-accused-fake-paper-tag-dealer/2957529/ 2957529 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/05/dallas-pd-paper-tag-mill.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 A man is in custody, accused of selling counterfeit temporary paper license tags in Dallas.

According to Dallas police, the department’s Auto Theft Task Force arrested 43-year-old Wayland Wayne Wright and shut down what they described as a “paper tag mill” during an undercover operation after receiving a tip from a citizen.

Wright was booked into the Dallas County Jail Tuesday afternoon on a charge of tampering with a governmental record with the intent to defraud. The charge is a state jail felony.

Wayland Wright, booking photo, May 2022.

Dallas police said they executed a search warrant at a location on the 3600 block of Sunnyvale Street on April 20 where they found additional fake paper tags along with $3,000 in cash.

Wright, according to a police statement, “admitted to printing multiple fake and fraudulent paper tags.”

In an interview Tuesday, Dallas Police Lt. Julio Gonzalez told NBC 5 Investigates the department believes the suspected tag operation sold about 200 fraudulent tags, Gonzalez said the tag that an undercover detective purchased was a counterfeit tag and was not issued out of the Texas DMV’s temporary tag system.

According to investigators, counterfeit tags are a growing trend.

Dallas police officers went undercover to take down what investigators called a fraudulent paper tag mill.
Dallas police officers went undercover to take down what investigators called a fraudulent paper tag mill.

Following nearly six months of reports by NBC 5 Investigates, which exposed how crooks were able to get Texas car dealer licenses and sell hundreds of thousands of real tags, the Texas DMV has cracked down on those so-called “dealers” in recent months, suspending their access to the DMV’s tag system. Police said crooks selling tags have now turned to tags that are entirely fake.

“What we still are seeing are the completely fictitious and created paper tags”, Gonzalez told NBC 5 Investigates.

The 200 suspected fraudulent tags involved in Tuesday’s bust is a relatively small number compared to the amount that may have been sold by some of the small licensed dealers NBC 5 Investigates exposed in a series of reports that began in November. Investigators believe one of those dealers sold 27,000 tags in a single week, bringing in an estimated $2 million in profits.

But criminals who use fraudulent tags to create so-called “ghost cars” to evade police and commit other crimes only need to obtain one fraudulent tag. So, Dallas police investigators say they are committed to working with the DMV to take all of those tags off the streets.

“We have seen these fake and fraudulent paper tags that are used in street racing robberies, burglaries, stolen vehicles, and so it’s very important that we go after those individuals that are defrauding the state of Texas,” Gonzalez said.

Dallas police officers went undercover to take down what investigators called a fraudulent paper tag mill.
Dallas police officers went undercover to take down what investigators called a fraudulent paper tag mill.

Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said last month that his officers had begun working undercover to stop the illegal sale of Texas paper tags in the city. Fort Worth announced a similar operation in February.

Tuesday, police told NBC 5 Investigates that Tuesday’s arrest was the first announcement in what they describe as an ongoing series of investigations.

Wednesday morning, jail records showed Wright remained at the Dallas County Jail on a bond of $15,000. It is not clear if he has an attorney to speak on his behalf.

Paper Tag Nation

paper tag nation Apr 14, 2022

Texas DMV Cracks Down on Dealers Selling Temporary Paper Tags

Dallas Police Apr 14, 2022

Texas DMV Board Meets to Discuss Fight Against Illegal Paper Tags

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License to Smuggle: Drug Cartels and Human Smugglers Use Paper Texas Tags to Evade

NBC 5 Investigates aired our first report in early November 2021 exposing how crooked car dealers were able to obtain dealer licenses by registering with the state and paying a fee and then using those licenses to print hundreds of thousands of tags, which law enforcement officials suspected were being sold for millions in illicit profits.

Last week, state lawmakers in Austin, including Texas House Committee Chairman Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) pressed the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for answers about how the agency allowed the illegal sale of temporary license plates to spiral out of control and demanded that somebody had to answer for the debacle.

In February, the agency said it could not move faster to revoke dealer licenses until the legislature gave them that authority and the board implemented new administrative rules. Those changes went into effect earlier this year and the agency has been able to shut down some dealers suspected of paper tag fraud.

Dallas police continue to investigate reports of paper tag fraud and asks the public to report those selling fake or fraudulent paper tags to their Auto Theft Unit at 214-671-3535 or by calling the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Division at 888-368-4689.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, May 03 2022 05:09:17 PM ‘Somebody's Got to Answer,' Legislators Press Texas DMV Over Paper Tag Debacle https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/somebodys-got-to-answer-legislators-press-texas-dmv-over-paper-tag-debacle/2951065/ 2951065 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/texas-legislature-paper-tag-hearing-042622.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 State lawmakers pressed the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Tuesday for answers about how the agency allowed the illegal sale of temporary license plates to spiral out of control.

In a House Transportation Committee hearing, Chairman Terry Canales pointed out the legislature gave the DMV authority in 2021 to immediately stop small car dealers suspected of selling tags from gaining access to the state’s tag system.

But Canales questioned why it took the DMV more than seven months to implement administrative rules and begin immediately suspending the suspected fraudsters.

“I am not here to shoot the messenger but at some point, somebody’s got to answer to this committee and the legislature as to why it would take so long and why the media has to be the one that uncovers it so that the agency we gave a directive to can actually do something,” Canales said.

In November 2021, NBC 5 Investigates exposed how small dealers with no storefronts were continuing to print hundreds of thousands of tags, which law enforcement officials suspected were being sold for profit.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Daniel Avitia, the DMV’s new acting executive director, apologized for the delays in implementing the rules. He took over when the previous director, Whitney Brewster, resigned over the tag debacle.

“As painful as it may have been to see our agency in the media and receiving those black eyes, I will say that being in the media was part of the solution,” Avitia said.

Avitia said it had been challenging for the agency, under his predecessor, to implement the rules due to the complexities of the state’s administrative rule process.

By the time the DMV began taking swifter action, fraudulent tags were already begin put on cars used to commit serious crimes in Texas and across the country.

A top Texas of Department of Public Safety commander testified Tuesday that his agency is aware of more than 600 cases in 16 months where cars with paper tags were involved in suspicious incidents the department investigated. The tags make it difficult for law enforcement to identify the owner of a vehicle.

“Criminal street gangs and Mexican cartels are especially known to rely on this tactic, the pervasiveness we have seen time and time again”, said DPS Deputy Director Floyd Goodwin.

Sgt. Jose Escribano, a Travis County investigator who specializes in tag fraud, told the committee that the state needs to reinstate funding for task forces that used to investigate tag cases in other major cities including Dallas, where the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department once had a dedicated unit. That unit folded after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed funding that supported the task forces in 2017.

Canales urged officers to communicate with his office to help them understand what sort of funding is needed.

Committee members also discussed the need for tougher background checks for people applying for car dealer licenses and the possibility of replacing the current paper tag system with something else.

But Canales, who called the tag problem a “black eye” for the state, suggested many of the fixes could be implemented by the DMV alone, without assistance from the legislature, which cannot pass bills to address the problems until the House and Senate are back in session in 2023.

Tawny Solbrig, the mother of a young man killed in a crash involving a pickup truck that was on the road with an illegal paper tag, urged the committee not to hand the issue back to the DMV without continuing to hold the agency accountable.

“Make sure they are doing what they need to be doing because ultimately y’all are responsible too.”

The DMV has previously said it is devising a plan to begin fingerprinting car dealers who can access the electronic tag system, and hopes to approve that plan as early as June. The agency has also discussed the need for more investigators to visit small car dealers and has said it is looking at the possibility of a new more secure system to replace paper tags.

The Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee is also investigating the paper tag mess and is expected to hold its own hearings on the issue soon.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, Apr 26 2022 05:38:16 PM Texas House Set to Hold Paper Tag Hearings https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-house-set-to-hold-paper-tag-hearings/2950056/ 2950056 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/paper-tag-texas-capitol.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 On Tuesday, Texas lawmakers kick off a series of hearings aimed at stopping fraudsters from selling Texas temporary license plates.

The House Transportation Committee will tackle the issue first, with the Senate Criminal Justice Committee expected to hold additional hearings in the coming weeks.

On the eve of the first hearing, State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), told NBC 5 Investigates he wants the state to get rid of paper tags altogether because he believes the current problems cannot be fixed unless Texas eliminates the current tags, which have become a nationwide headache for police and a danger to the public.

First, crooks exploited security loopholes at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. They got car dealer licensees, accessed the state’s eTAG system, and sold hundreds of thousands of temporary paper tags for profit.

Those temporary tags are then often slapped onto cars later used to commit other serious crimes nationwide.

NBC 5 Investigates has documented how so-called “ghost cars” with illegal paper tags have been used by drug runners, human smugglers and suspects involved in violent crimes, including drive-by shootings.

“DMV, quite frankly, sat on their rear end. It did nothing about the problem. And they could have done more faster, quicker and earlier to stop this problem,” Bettencourt told NBC 5 Investigates.

Bettencourt believes the Texas DMV is at least on the right track now since the agency’s former director has resigned and the TxDMV has launched new efforts to shut down small dealers selling tags.

The board that oversees the TxDMV is also looking at ways to close loopholes in the background check process that allow bad actors to become licensed car dealers.

“The only thing that’s driving through these loopholes are Mack trucks of money for organized crime, and that’s why it’s got to be stopped now,” Bettencourt said.

As the TxDMV adapts, police warn the bad guys are adapting, too.

Using templates from old paper tags, authorities say crooks are simply counterfeiting new tags, like one spotted Monday by NBC 5 Investigates in Dallas.

The 60-day buyer’s tag says it was issued by “MIR Motors” and shows a May expiration date, indicating the tag was issued in March. But TxDMV records show the agency revoked MIR Motors dealer license for suspected tag fraud in January, so it could not have issued tags in March.

NBC 5 Investigates continues to see counterfeit tags with the name of that revoked dealer on Dallas streets.

PAPER TAG NATION

paper tag nation Apr 14, 2022

Texas DMV Cracks Down on Dealers Selling Temporary Paper Tags

Dallas Police Apr 14, 2022

Texas DMV Board Meets to Discuss Fight Against Illegal Paper Tags

paper tag nation Apr 8, 2022

Texas DMV Releases Plan to Close Paper Tag Loophole

Bettencourt believes the current tags are too easy to reproduce and must be replaced with something more secure.

“We need to get out of the paper tag business because now, even if we close these dealers, a lot of these dealers are just inventing numbers and putting out false numbers,” Bettencourt told NBC 5 Investigates.

At Tuesday’s House Transportation Committee hearing, law enforcement officials are expected to testify about other tools they need to investigate the tag sellers.

And one mom will be there to support them.

“I wish they would have all listened to law enforcement – a long time ago, years ago, and they wouldn’t be in this situation,” said Tawny Solbrig.

Solbrig’s son, Terrin, died in a crash involving a car with an illegal paper tag.

Tawny Solbrig wants the legislature to reinstate funding for special police units that used to investigate paper tag fraud in cities like Dallas.

“We need to be able to get the tools to the law enforcement to do their job,” said Solbrig.

Funding for those dedicated enforcement units was cut in 2017 when Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vetoed a bill that contained that funding. At the time, Abbott indicated he was opposed to a separate clean air program provision in that bill.

In addition to resources for task forces to police tag fraud, law enforcement officials are expected to ask lawmakers for a long list of items including tougher penalties for people who sell counterfeit tags, additional funding for the DMV to hire more inspectors to check small dealers, resources for tougher background checks on dealer applicants and better police access to DMV data to investigate crimes.

The House and Senate are holding hearings under “interim charges” from the House Speaker and lieutenant governor, but legislation to deal with the paper tag problem cannot be introduced until the legislature is back in session in 2023.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Apr 25 2022 09:48:02 PM Texas DMV Cracks Down on Dealers Selling Temporary Paper Tags https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dmv-cracks-down-on-dealers-selling-temporary-paper-tags/2940894/ 2940894 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/texas-paper-tag-cu.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 More Texas car dealers have been cut off from issuing temporary paper license plates after the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles caught them selling illegal temporary tags for profit.

During Tuesday’s TxDMV board meeting the acting director announced 30 dealers have been kicked out of the state’s temporary tag system since January.

The crackdown comes in the months after a series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates first highlighted the scope of the problem.

“The efforts are working and we are constantly removing access to the system as I mentioned and this is a daily operation,” said Daniel Avitia, TxDMV acting executive director.

Cutting off access to 30 rogue dealers is big progress toward stopping the people who are illegally selling tags right out of the DMV’s system, but the chairman of the board who oversees the agency acknowledges there is a lot more to do as the bad guys adapt and continue to exploit other gaps in security.

“All of these actions are good. But we’re not done — far from it,” said DMV Board Chairman, Charles Bacarisse.

Bacarisse promises the agency will start fingerprinting car dealers soon, to stop criminals from getting dealer licenses and selling tags.

PAPER TAG NATION

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Police Warn of Fake Paper Tags Used to Cheat Car Buyers

He said the board hopes to approve a fingerprinting plan, possibly in June, but that doesn’t mean it will start right away.

When asked when fingerprinting could be implemented, Bacarisse told NBC 5, “I think there’s a challenge with anything that large getting rolled out. I think we could do it fairly reasonably quickly.”

Bacarisse was not clear on what “reasonably quickly” means acknowledging the DMV would still have to hire fingerprinting vendors.

“Not months and months but it’s definitely going to take some time. I don’t have a firm grasp on how much or how quickly,” said Bacarisse.

As NBC 5 Investigates first reported months ago the lack of fingerprinting and thorough background checks has allowed criminals to become licensed car dealers and get their hands on tags they can sell for big money.

“The implementation of fingerprinting dealers during the initial application process and part of the license renewal is our best opportunity to ensure that bad actors do not gain access,” Avitia told the DMV board Thursday. 

But the lack of a clear timeline for fingerprinting dealers frustrates some police officers who have spoken with NBC 5 Investigates.

“I think they are on track, I just wish it would speed up a little bit more,” said David Kohler, a sheriff’s deputy from Central Texas. He spoke to NBC 5 Investigates on his own behalf and was not representing his department.

Kohler, who investigates fraudulent tags, believes fingerprinting dealers is the best thing the DMV can do to stop the fraud.

“You have to know who you are giving access to your system and if you don’t know who they are and they have a criminal background you are done,” said Kohler.

Kohler would also like to see the DMV inspect all car dealers in person before they open, something that does not occur today.

Some dealers that have sold tags faked their license applications and did not even have a car lot.

Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates a new inspection program may have to wait until the DMV can ask the legislature to fund hiring more inspectors. He said while progress may seem slow, by DMV standards, things are moving rapidly.

“Government doesn’t move very fast very often but this agency has pivoted and moved very quickly for government agencies I have seen,” Bacarisse told NBC 5.

Police who have complained about bogus tags for years told NBC 5 Investigates at least they feel DMV leadership is listening now. 

“The board is understanding and recognizing the problem and I think with just the continued media coverage, the exposure, the attention, it’s just light years away from where it was,” said Kohler.

The DMV has still not given law enforcement real-time access to the temporary tag system so they can better investigate fraudulent tags involved in violent crimes and drug smuggling. 

Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates he hopes police will be able to access the tag data in real-time sometime after the June board meeting. 

Avitia said Thursday the department is working on that and is dealing with some technical challenges, though, again, he gave no clear timeline on when that might happen.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Thu, Apr 14 2022 06:40:21 PM TxDMV Closes Inspection Loophole That Put Unsafe Cars on Roads https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/txdmv-closes-inspection-loophole-that-put-unsafe-cars-on-roads/2938727/ 2938727 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/TxDMV.png?fit=300,169&quality=85&strip=all A major safety loophole that allowed unsafe cars to get temporary license plates has been closed by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

NBC 5 Investigates exposed the problem first last week. Cars that could not pass a state safety inspection were still able to get 30-day temporary license plates because the DMV was not requiring offices that issue those plates to verify vehicle safety and emissions inspections.

Brandon Denton learned of the change in DMV policy Tuesday when he arrived at the Dallas County Tax Office hoping to get a 30-day permit but was told he had to get a state inspection first.

“I got here trying to get in and out and now I have to go get an inspection. So, it makes it a little tough today,” Denton told NBC 5 Investigates.

The TxDMV issued new guidance to tax offices Monday requiring people applying for 30-day permits to show proof of a passing vehicle inspection and to fill out an application that will give the TxDMV more information about who is applying for the permit.

“It’s a much better system, number one, we have a record now, we know exactly who applied what they’re looking for and that they have the proper documents with them,” said John Ames the Dallas County Tax Assessor-Collector.

Ames said his office and other tax offices across the state were previously unable to deny 30-day permits to drivers who did not have a valid inspection until the DMV updated its guidance to tax offices this week.

NBC 5 Investigates has learned even the DMV’s own offices did not require proof of inspection until recently. A department spokesperson told us that the policy just changed at the agency’s service centers last week.

Thirty-day permits have become a growing focus of concern for some law enforcement officials, who believe that more people have been exploiting the inspection loophole in order to get tags for unsafe cars that could not pass state inspection.

The DMV has recently shut down more car dealers caught selling fraudulent 60-day temporary plates for profit. As that has happened, officers with a special unit that investigates license plate fraud in Austin told NBC 5 Investigates they have seen more cars with 30-day permits that would not pass inspection. Some of those cars previously had tags issued by dealers caught selling tags, officials said, leading them to suspect people were turning to 30-day permits as a backdoor to register unsafe cars.

Last week, NBC 5 Investigates questioned a member of the TxDMV’s board of directors, Manny Ramirez, who promised the agency would close the loophole.

“I think every time that we find a loophole, we have to do everything in our power to shut it down,” Ramirez said.

For Brandon Denton, the new TxDMV policy means one more hoop to jump through before getting a tag for his truck but he said he understands completely why the additional security measures are needed.

“If we have to do a little more of another step for safety or security for the community, it’s all worth it at the end of the day,” Denton said.

NBC 5 Investigates asked the TxDMV why it decided to close the loophole now.

TxDMV spokesman Adam Shaivitz told NBC 5 Investigates, “The circumstances leading to the change in policy were identified earlier in the year and have been under legal review, resulting in the current policy.”

The TxDMV Board is expected to meet again in Austin on Thursday to discuss efforts to implement a litany of new security measures surrounding temporary tags.

A months-long NBC 5 investigation has exposed major security flaws at the TxDMV that allowed people to obtain car dealer licenses for the purpose of selling massive numbers of black market temporary tags.

Police said some of those fraudulent tags are then placed on vehicles involved in committing other crimes because the fraudulent tags make it harder for investigators to identify the owner of the vehicle.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, Apr 12 2022 10:01:14 PM Dallas Police Go Undercover to Fight Illegal Paper Tags https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-police-go-undercover-to-fight-illegal-paper-tags/2937713/ 2937713 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2021/07/Dallas-Police-Headquarters.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia said Monday that his officers are now working undercover to stop the illegal sale of Texas paper tags.

It’s a problem the NBC 5 Investigates team has been digging into — fraudulent temporary Texas license plates sold in massive numbers, often by licensed car dealers gaming the system.

Criminals use those tags to mask the identity of cars used to commit other crimes.

Dallas police plan to ask the Texas State Legislature for more help to fight the problem.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Apr 11 2022 09:35:06 PM Texas DMV Releases Plan to Close Paper Tag Loophole https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dmv-releases-plan-to-close-paper-tag-loophole/2936293/ 2936293 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/La-Noir-Paper-Tag-Blurred-01.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas DMV has released more information about its plans to close a loophole that’s allowing unsafe cars to get temporary tags.

NBC 5 Investigates first told you about this on Thursday.

Our team discovered that most county tax offices that can issue temporary tags do not check to make sure a car has passed inspections before issuing a paper tag.

The tax offices told us, state rules do not allow them to require inspection paperwork.

But in a letter sent to tax offices Friday, the DMV confirmed it will now require counties to verify that cars have been inspected.

The DMV also said it plans to create a new application form for temporary tags.

Law enforcement officials tell NBC 5 Investigates the loophole has to be closed.

They fear more people are turning to tax offices to get 30-day tags for unsafe cars because the DMV is cracking down on shady dealers who sell temporary tags illegally.

As we’ve reported, those tags are often bought by people who own cars that can’t pass inspection.

As well as people looking to hide the ownership of cars used in crimes.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Fri, Apr 08 2022 09:46:54 PM Another TxDMV Loophole Allows Unsafe Cars to Get Temporary Tags https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/another-txdmv-loophole-allows-unsafe-cars-to-get-temporary-tags/2935306/ 2935306 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/30-day-paper-tag-1.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has discovered another loophole in the state’s temporary license plate system that allows people to get temporary plates for unsafe cars that have not passed state safety and emissions inspections. And, this loophole does not involve shady car dealers who sell temporary tags for profit on the black market.

It turns out, getting a tag for an unsafe car is as easy as visiting a local county tax office that issues one particular type of temporary tag.

“Where does it stop?” asked Sgt. Jose Escribano, who investigates license plate fraud at a special law enforcement unit in Travis County.

“This is a part of that entire system there in the DMV that needs an overhaul,” Escribano said.

Over the last five months, a series of NBC 5 reports have exposed how questionable car dealers were able to exploit security loopholes at the Texas DMV and sell fraudulent temporary tags, raking in millions in black-market profits.

Those tags are often sold to people with cars that could not pass a state inspection and get a regular plate.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has shut down more than a dozen dealers caught selling tags.

But now, law enforcement officials tell NBC 5 Investigates they are seeing more cars that have not passed a state inspection but have 30-day permits, a type of temporary paper license plate tag that can be issued by a county tax office, typically to drivers who are waiting on title paperwork.

To drive with a 30-day permit state law says the car must pass a safety inspection.

But NBC 5 Investigates has learned most tax offices do not ask for proof that the car was inspected.

“It could be a vehicle that shouldn’t even be on the road,” Escribano said.

NBC 5 Investigates contacted the tax offices in the four largest DFW area counties, Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties.

All of them said they do not check inspections.

Why?

Dallas County Tax Assessor/Collector John Ames told NBC 5, “…we are not authorized to refuse the issuance of a 30-day permit based upon the failure to verify a valid inspection.”

County officials told us the Texas DMV would need to give them the authority to ask for proof of inspection.

On Thursday, DMV board member, Manny Ramirez tells NBC the DMV is now working to close the 30-day permit loophole and require tax offices to verify inspections.

“I think every time that we find a loophole, we have to do everything in our power to shut it down,” Ramirez said.

But, there’s no timetable yet for when that will happen.

Meanwhile, paper tags continue to flow to cars that have not been inspected. 

Just Thursday morning NBC 5 Investigates spotted a 30-day permit issued by Dallas County. 

NBC 5 checked the VIN number on the car and found it has not passed a safety inspection in more than 2 years.  So, it’s not legally on the road.

“It’s outrageous. And every time that we find an example like that, every time that we find loopholes where criminals are taking advantage of the system, we have to act swiftly to shut that door and shut it off,”  Ramirez said.

Officers who investigate tag fraud tell NBC 5 they are even starting to see 30-day permits in smuggling cases along the U.S/Mexico border.

As NBC 5 has reported, drug cartels and human traffickers often use fraudulent temporary tags to mask the ownership of vehicles and evade law enforcement. And, police fear bad guys who once bought fraudulent tags on the black market — are now turning to tax offices to get tags instead.

“We’ve seen that. We’ve gotten the reports and we’ve seen the human smuggling, the pursuits, and then they’re using the 30-day permits,” Escribano said.

In Travis County, the Constables Office tells NBC 5 Investigates that 70% of the 30-day permits issued this year went to cars that do not have a valid inspection.

NBC 5 reached out to the DMV to ask when they plan to close this loophole.

In a statement, a DMV spokesman told NBC 5, “the department would like the opportunity to provide specific instructions to county tax assessor-collector offices throughout the state before we begin discussing the issue publicly.”

Ames, the Dallas County Tax Assessor-Collector, said Thursday he is happy to hear the DMV is going to help the tax offices tighten up the oversight of the 30-day tags. Ames and other tax assessors participated in a TxDMV phone call Thursday to discuss the department’s plans to require inspection verification.

Records show about 500,000 30-day permits were issued in 2021, and almost 100,000 were issued by the big four-county tax offices in the DFW area.

But some local counties are seeing rising demand for 30-day permits in 2022 and that has some law enforcement officials concerned that more people may be turning to 30-day paper tags as the black market for fraudulent 60-day buyers tags gets shut down.

]]> Thu, Apr 07 2022 09:52:36 PM Police Warn of Fake Paper Tags Used to Cheat Car Buyers https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/do-not-publish-until-945pm-police-warn-of-fake-paper-tags-used-to-cheat-car-buyers/2934034/ 2934034 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/04/Stephen-Goniwiecha-truck-02.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Some of the people driving Texas roads with fraudulent temporary paper license plates are actually victims.

They didn’t set out to buy a black-market tag on the internet but instead bought a car from a dealer that quietly put a bogus tag on the car.

Law enforcement investigators told NBC 5 Investigates unscrupulous dealers are using fraudulent paper tags to disguise vehicles that have serious problems, including vehicles that could not pass a state inspection.

Problems that can cost car buyers a fortune.

Stephen Goniwiecha learned the hard way. He saw an ad for what looked like a good deal on a nice-looking used Ford F-250 pickup truck sold by a dealer that was operating out of a small car lot in Dallas.

Stephen Goniwiecha’s Ford F-250.

The truck came with a temporary paper buyer’s tag, which is what you expect when you buy a car in Texas. But a couple of months after buying the truck, Goniwiecha said the dealer still hadn’t sent him the paperwork he needed to get permanent plates.

“It was always ‘the next day, the next couple of days, let me check.’ Then it was like, ‘Hey, this is enough,’” Goniwiecha told NBC 5 Investigates.

Goniwiecha said the dealer eventually offered to get him a second temporary Texas buyer’s tag. That’s a big red flag because, under state law, dealers can only issue one buyer’s tag to the car at the time it’s sold. 

Stephen Goniwiecha outside his truck
Stephen Goniwiecha

“(The buyer’s tag) was going to expire. And that’s why I kept reaching out to them. And he said, ‘I’ll just give you another one,’ and I said, ‘I don’t want another one,’” Goniwiecha said.

That temporary tag on Goniwiecha’s truck contained an even bigger warning sign that he didn’t spot right away.

He bought the truck from a dealer called Spirit Motor LLC. But, the name of the dealer on the temporary tag was Le Noir Lane, a Houston dealer that NBC 5 Investigates learned has been under law enforcement investigation for months, suspected of selling black-market tags.

Mike Bradburn and Scott Friedman
Mike Bradburn, left, and Scott Friedman

“They are another Texas licensed dealer, part of this long-term investigation we’re on, where they go from dealership to dealership to sell tags,” said Mike Bradburn, a detective with Travis County Constables Precinct 3, which has a unit dedicated to investigating tag fraud.

“(LeNoir’s) tags are everywhere, literally, probably every state and jurisdiction of the United States,” Bradburn said.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles revoked Le Noir’s dealer license in January. The company has not responded to messages from NBC 5 Investigates.

When Goniwiecha finally got the title paperwork from Spirit Motor, the dealer that sold him the truck with that Le Noir tag, he said he got an even more painful surprise.

certificate of title
Stephen Goniwiecha’s title shows the truck had more than 313,000 miles.

“On the title, the title said 200,000 miles more than what the truck actually had on it,” Goniwiecha said. 

The truck’s odometer showed it had about 140,000 miles on it, but the title said the vehicle had more than 300,000 miles, suggesting someone rolled back the odometer leaving the truck worth far less than what Goniwiecha paid for it.

“It’s one of those things that you really can’t do anything about, you know, except for to warn people,” Goniwiecha said.

Stephen Goniwiecha’s Ford F-250 shows 144,294 miles.

Law enforcement investigators told NBC 5 Investigates they’re seeing more cases where they believe small dealers are using fraudulent paper tags to hide secrets about cars they sell, even putting them on stolen cars and salvage vehicles to sell them to unsuspecting buyers.

“I recall a kid who bought a $20,000 Jeep that was a salvage that came with a (fraudulent) tag and he’d saved up his money, 21-years-old, paid cash. You’re not going to get it back. You got a salvage vehicle,” said Bradburn.

The temporary tags, which licensed dealers can create and print right out of the Texas DMV system, can make the car appear to be legit even if it’s not.

Currently, when dealers print temporary tags from the TxDMV’s eTag system, the system does not verify the vehicle identification number to make sure the vehicle has a valid inspection.

So, unscrupulous dealers can create paper tags for cars that could not pass a state inspection and the TxDMV system does not stop those tags from being issued.

Scott Friedman and Stephen Goniwiecha
Scott Friedman, left, talks with Stephen Goniwiecha, right.

The agency is now talking about closing that loophole after months of reports from NBC 5 Investigates exposing the widespread sale of fraudulent tags.

But for now, car buyers have to do their own homework to make sure that the vehicle has a valid inspection.

Goniwiecha wishes he had run a vehicle history report from a company like CARFAX before buying the car and that he had spotted the suspect tag before driving off the lot.

“Should have done the CARFAX. I should have done all these things that I didn’t,” said Goniwiecha.

The Texas DMV told NBC 5 Investigates the company that sold Goniwiecha the truck, Spirit Motor LLC had its dealer license revoked for misusing temporary tags. That happened months before Goniwiecha bought the truck so it appears the dealer did not have a valid license at the time of the sale. 

NBC 5 Investigates has been unable to reach the person listed as Spirit’s owner in corporate records.

WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF: DO THESE 2 THINGS

Law enforcement officials say now more than ever it’s important for car buyers to run a vehicle history report from CARFAX or another company that provides that service.

NBC 5 Investigates ran a CARFAX for Goniwiecha’s truck and the report showed the truck had 340,000 miles in November 2021 and then it suddenly had 143,000 miles the next month. That would have helped flag the odometer issue.

There is also a free state website: mytxcar.org where you can enter a VIN number and find out if a vehicle has had a state inspection in the last 180 days.

If it does not, the car cannot have a paper buyer’s tag.

paper tag

NBC 5 Investigates ran Goniwiecha’s truck on mytxcar.org and the site showed the truck was not inspected in the 180-days before the sale and could not legally have a buyer’s tag.

Since DMV’s eTag system does not check the VIN number when the tag is issued, buyers have to do the homework themselves if they are concerned they are being given a fraudulent tag.

“Just make sure the same (dealer) name is on it. And if it isn’t there, ask that dealer,” Goniwiecha said.

Paper Tag Nation

paper tag nation Apr 5, 2022

Texas Senate Will Investigate Illegal Paper Tag Crimes, Smuggling

paper tag nation Mar 9, 2022

Texas Paper Tag Crime Danger Extends Nationwide

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, Apr 06 2022 09:45:22 PM Texas Senate Will Investigate Illegal Paper Tag Crimes, Smuggling https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-senate-will-investigate-illegal-paper-tag-crimes-smuggling/2932599/ 2932599 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/dan-patrick-crt-xgr-021822-01.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced Monday that a Senate committee will examine how illegal temporary license plates have become involved in violent crimes, human smuggling, and drug trafficking.

Patrick has directed the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee to take up the issue between now and the start of the next legislative session in 2023.

NBC 5 Investigates has reported extensively on the massive scale of paper tag fraud in a series of reports, even traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border to show how drug cartels and human traffickers are now using fraudulent temporary tags in an effort to disguise vehicles and evade border enforcement.

In the DFW area, fraudulent temporary tags are involved in a majority of federal drug smuggling investigations the DEA told NBC 5.

Security flaws at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles made it easier for people posing as car dealers to obtain a Texas dealer’s license and then use that license to illegally sell tags for massive profits, the NBC 5 investigation found.

In the Texas House, the transportation committee also plans to hold hearings on the issue soon.  Committee Chairman Terry Canales (D) pledged to take up the problem, after NBC 5 Investigates showed how small car dealers, with no visible storefront, were issuing tens of thousands of tags in a scheme that some law enforcement officials estimate has become a $200 million black-market industry.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, Apr 05 2022 10:31:56 AM Texas Paper Tag Crime Danger Extends Nationwide https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-paper-tag-crime-danger-extends-nationwide/2911296/ 2911296 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/03/Texas-Paper-Tags-1.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 There’s new evidence of how bogus Texas temporary license plates are putting people in danger not only in Texas, but across the country.

NBC 5 Investigates has learned of more reports of crimes involving fraudulent Texas tags as far away as New York and Nevada where police say they are struggling to keep up with the problem.

“We could spend every day looking for Texas buyer tags, and we still wouldn’t find them all. It’s just, they’re everywhere here”, said Chief JD Decker with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles Compliance Enforcement Division.

Decker reports many of those Texas tags are now being used by fraudsters trying to disguise stolen cars and unsafe salvage vehicles that are sold to unsuspecting buyers.

In New York City, the NYPD recently released surveillance video of a man impersonating a police officer, stealing gas from a gas station. The suspect drove off in a car with a fraudulent Texas paper tag, according to authorities, and he is still on the run.

Our New York NBC station, WNBC, reports Texas temporary tags can be found across the city. And, just yesterday, police announced 22 cars were seized with illegal paper plates in Brooklyn.

“Why is someone with a Texas dealership temporary plate here in New York? You have to buy that vehicle in Texas”, said Terry Monahan and NBC New York law enforcement consultant and former Chief of Department at the NYPD.

paper tag nation Feb 28, 2022

License to Smuggle: Drug Cartels and Human Smugglers Use Paper Texas Tags to Evade

paper tag nation Nov 8, 2021

How Texas Paper Tags Became a $200M Criminal Enterprise: NBC 5 Investigates

paper tag nation Feb 15, 2022

Fort Worth Police Announce Special Operation Targeting Paper Tags

As NBC 5 Investigates has reported, crooks have been able to get Texas car dealer licenses, allowing them to access the state’s system and create tags, which they can then sell illegally for huge profits.

The tags are often sold to people hoping to avoid paying for insurance and car registration. But they are also turning up on cars involved in crimes in Texas, New York and beyond, because bad guys have figured out those bogus tags can be registered to false names and addresses, making them hard for police to trace.

In one county just outside New York City police have found Texas tags connected to a series of other crimes.

“30% of all vehicles stopped in Nassau County with these plates had weapons and or drugs”, Monahan told WNBC.

In Nevada, where police say they see Texas temporary tags all over Las Vegas, they said they are not seeing fraudulent Nevada tags. DMV officials in Nevada say that’s because their inspectors visit dealers in person to verify their identities prior to issuing them a dealer license.

“We have a very robust licensing program in which the applicant is screened, the location is screened, the signage is screened, and so it would be very hard to register as a Nevada auto dealer and have access to that system if you weren’t actually a Nevada dealer”, Decker said.

In Texas, the DMV does not meet with people applying for dealer licenses, or fingerprint them, allowing people posing as car dealers to cheat the system.

Police report they have seen businesses that submitted dealer license applications using stolen identities and pictures of photoshopped offices that do not exist.

At a Texas DMV advisory committee meeting Wednesday, members talked about plans to change that.

The committee asked staff to begin exploring the cost of hiring more inspectors or private contractors to conduct on-site visits of all applicants. The group also discussed the possibility of charging applicants a fee to cover the costs of those inspections.

Last year alone, more than 4,000 people applied for Texas dealer licenses, making inspections a massive task.

“They are going to need money for computer systems, VIN verification, the fingerprinting – site inspections, whatever else they may need”, said advisory committee member Mike Bradburn, a law enforcement detective who investigates tag fraud cases.

But tackling the problem on the front end might save time and money for cities, Bradburn said, where police are now forced to clean up the mess.

In Dallas Wednesday, Mayor Eric Johnson fielded questions at a city council meeting from a citizen complaining of cars with new paper tags being switched out constantly in one neighborhood. Those tags are supposed to be issued only when a dealer actually sells a car.

Johnson pledged to address the issue with police.

“So, let’s reach out to Chief Garcia and to DPS Colonel McCraw and see what we need to do to look into this. Sounds like maybe a paper tag mill going on”, Johnson said.

Dallas police have already conducted several special operations in the city, seizing dozens of tags, impounding cars and arresting people suspected of using those tag to conceal other crimes.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, Mar 09 2022 09:45:45 PM Texas House Will Hold Hearings on Paper Tag Mess https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-house-will-hold-hearings-on-paper-tag-mess/2907418/ 2907418 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/03/GettyImages-1235386585.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,200 NBC 5 Investigates has learned Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) will direct lawmakers to tackle the problem of fraudulent Texas temporary license plates in hearings this year, even before the start of the next legislative session in 2023.

A spokesperson for Phelan’s office tells NBC 5 the speaker will include the paper tag issue in his “interim charges” to the House, designating it as a key issue so lawmakers can begin discussing solutions now and move more swiftly to pass legislation to address the problem when they reconvene next year.

“This is going to be a priority for Texas House members”, said Cassi Pollock, a spokesperson for the Speaker’s office.

In December, the chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee, Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), told NBC 5 he would ask Phelan to make the paper tag an interim charge after an NBC 5 investigation revealed the massive scale of the fraud. By one law enforcement estimate at least 1.2 million black market temporary tags were sold last year alone.

Authorities say many of those tags are sold by unscrupulous car dealers who have obtained state licenses that give them access to the state’s electronic tag system. That allows them to create tags, register them to false names and addresses and sell them on the black market. Those tags are sometimes used to create “ghost cars”, difficult for police to trace, and even used to conceal other crimes, according to police and federal agents who have investigated the sale of fraudulent tags. NBC 5 Investigates recently showed how even drug cartels and human traffickers are using fraudulent paper tags to move drugs and people and attempt to evade law enforcement along the U.S. – Mexico border.

paper tag nation Feb 28, 2022

License to Smuggle: Drug Cartels and Human Smugglers Use Paper Texas Tags to Evade

paper tag nation Nov 8, 2021

How Texas Paper Tags Became a $200M Criminal Enterprise: NBC 5 Investigates

paper tag nation Feb 15, 2022

Fort Worth Police Announce Special Operation Targeting Paper Tags

The NBC 5 reports have revealed that the Texas DMV does not fingerprint car dealer license applicants or meet them in person. Investigators say that lack of thorough vetting has allowed people with bad intentions to gain dealer licenses and then misuse the state system for illegal profits.

In the wake of NBC 5’s reporting, the DMV’s board of directors has vowed to implement more intensive background checks and other security measures.

Meanwhile Friday, authorities in El Paso announced the arrest of a licensed car dealer accused of selling several Texas paper tags to help people avoid taxes and registration fees.

Mike Nami is charged with several counts of tampering with government records

El Paso County tax investigators said they partnered with the Texas DMV to investigate the case.

Dealers are not allowed to sell temporary tags. They can only put them on vehicles they actually sell.

NBC 5 Investigates reached out to Nami. A man who answered the phone at his dealership said the case was, “an issue of identity – and we are working on it”.

The man then hung up the phone.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Fri, Mar 04 2022 11:19:10 PM License to Smuggle: Drug Cartels and Human Smugglers Use Paper Texas Tags to Evade https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/license-to-smuggle-drug-cartels-and-human-smugglers-use-paper-texas-tags-to-evade/2902575/ 2902575 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/roma-texas-bogus-paper-tag-stop.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 An NBC 5 investigation reveals drug cartels and human traffickers are using fraudulent Texas paper tags as a tool to evade law enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Federal agents told NBC 5 Investigates cartel operatives have been able to exploit security weaknesses at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and obtain real Texas temporary tags registered to false names and addresses.

Those tags are then used, agents said, to disguise the ownership of smuggling vehicles making it harder for investigators trying to stop the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants along the border.

“So, we see it on a regular basis. It’s consistent and, again, it’s been happening for quite some time,” said Richard Sanchez, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

DEA Special Agent in Charge Richard Sanchez, left, talks with NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman, right.

Sanchez said undercover DEA agents embedded in drug trafficking organizations have even witnessed the traffickers instructing people on the benefits of using paper tags to move shipments.

“There are also some undercover investigations that we have where criminals have given the paper tags directly to our undercover officers and instructed them to fix that tag to the vehicle,” Sanchez said.

The tags are a drug-runners dream, authorities said, because they make it harder for police to determine who owns a smuggling vehicle.

An FBI agent who has investigated the sale of fraudulent Texas paper tags told NBC 5 smugglers have obtained fraudulent tags from the Mexican side of the border too. The bad guys only need an internet connection and a printer.

Brannon Coker
FBI Special Agent Brannon Coker.

“These tags, we know are being printed out in Mexico and put on vehicles as they’re being loaded with drugs or people in an effort to try to have some legitimacy as they cross into the United States,” said FBI Special Agent, Brannon Coker.

It’s a stunning revelation in a state that’s spending billions on border security.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has made securing the border a top priority of his administration. But the TxDMV, under the supervision of a board Abbott appointed, did not thoroughly vet car dealer license applicants and allowed people with bad intentions to become licensed car dealers. They then use the state’s own system to create fraudulent tags used to undermine border security.

TEXAS DMV BEGINS FIGHTING PAPER TAG FRAUD

In a series of reports, NBC 5 Investigates has exposed the enormous scale of Texas paper tag fraud.

Tiny car dealers that appear to have no storefront have issued more temporary tags than many of the state’s largest franchised dealers. A clear sign, police said, that those small dealers are illegally selling tags and not cars.

Our reporting revealed that the TxDMV does not fingerprint car dealer license applicants or even visit dealers in person before granting them a license. TxDMV officials have acknowledged that even allowed people using stolen identities to become licensed dealers and gain access to the system that allows them to create temporary tags.

Texas DPS video shows cars with bogus paper license tags used to smuggle drugs and people across the border.

In recent weeks, the Texas DMV board has vowed to swiftly implement fingerprinting for dealers along with other new security measures.

“We’re going to shut down these fake dealers,” said DMV Board Chairman, Charles Bacarisse in an interview with NBC 5 Investigates.

Bacarisse told NBC 5 Investigates the board did not fully understand the scale of the fraud until NBC 5 aired reports in November showing small car dealers that seemed to exist only on paper that had printed tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of tags.

Charles Bacarisse
Texas DMV Board Member Charles Bacarisse.

“I, personally, was shocked when I saw it. And I think that the issue there is we’ve gone from a posture of quick and easy application to know your customer. Now we’re focused on knowing our customer,” Bacarisse said.

The DMV’s executive director resigned earlier this month as the board called for more action to stop the flow of fraudulent tags.

Abbott’s staff has repeatedly declined requests from NBC 5 Investigates for an interview. His office has said the governor continues to work with the DMV and the legislature to address the problem.

TEXAS PAPER TAGS HELP CARTELS, SMUGGLERS HIDE

State troopers Abbott deployed to the border are also encountering paper tags in their investigations.

In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety told NBC 5, “The department is aware of the growing problem of the proliferation of fraudulent temporary tags and is diligently working to combat this serious issue.”

A Texas State Trooper stands in front of two vehicles with paper tags that were found to be carrying illegal drugs.

The DPS told NBC 5 its counterterrorism division is working to identify cases where fraudulent tags are involved in crimes and they are sending more DPS troopers to special training to help them identify fraudulent tags.

Through records requests, NBC 5 Investigates obtained videos of DPS troopers chasing suspected drug runners and human smugglers in cars with paper tags in the border region.

In one case in Laredo, an SUV with a paper tag loaded with bales of drugs careens off the road and down through a large drainage ditch as the driver attempts to flee.

People being smuggled into the US jump out of a vehicle with a paper tag in Roma, Texas.

In another chase in Roma, bodies fall from the open doors of a car with a paper tag driven by a human smuggling suspect. The people bailing out of the car flee as the car then makes a run for the border, eventually crashing through a border crossing gate as the driver attempts to escape into Mexico.

Roma’s police chief told NBC 5 that fraudulent paper tags pose a constant problem for his officers.

“It’s made it very hard for us to conduct our investigations when we encounter these fictitious license plates,” said Roma Police Chief Iv Garza Jr.

Iv Garza Jr
NBC 5’s Scott Friedman, left, talks with Roma Chief of Police Iv Garza Jr., right.

Garza showed NBC 5 the department’s impound lot that had many cars seized in smuggling cases he deals with daily, including some with fraudulent tags that make it tough for his officers especially when smugglers bail out and run.

“The driver absconds gets away, and we’re left behind with a vehicle or the narcotics. And during the course of the investigation we find out that the plates are fictitious, and we cannot come back to the driver,” said Garza

The U.S. Border Patrol also told NBC 5 it has encountered paper tags on cars at stash houses where smugglers hide undocumented immigrants.

“Not only on locations such as migrants stash houses but up in our northern counties, where an individual will bail out from a vehicle with additional migrants,” said U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Jesse Moreno.

jesse moreno
U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Jesse Moreno.

Agents recently chased a Dodge Charger with a paper tag and people ran from the car. A passenger from El Salvador was arrested, but the driver escaped.

Near one busy border crossing in Hidalgo, NBC 5 Investigates saw suspected fraudulent tags.

On the road that runs north from the border checkpoint, NBC 5 spotted cars with tags issued by four different dealers suspected of selling fraudulent tags according to a Travis County law enforcement unit that’s working with the FBI to investigate the fraud.

As the DMV scrambles to close the security loopholes, agents on the border are now forced to work harder to track suspects since they can’t trust the tags.

“It makes us sharper, and we’ve become sharper because of it. And just like the criminal organizations evolve and their tactics, so do we,” said the DEA’s Sanchez. 

Paper Tag Nation

paper tag nation Feb 15, 2022

Fort Worth Police Announce Special Operation Targeting Paper Tags

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Crash Victim's Parents Want More Cops to Police Paper Tag Fraud

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More Funding Needed to Fight Criminals Using Bogus Paper Tags: Police

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Feb 28 2022 09:56:23 PM Fort Worth Police Announce Special Operation Targeting Paper Tags https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/fort-worth-police-announce-special-operation-targeting-paper-tags/2891370/ 2891370 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/paper-tag-nation-on-truck.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Fort Worth Police Department said Tuesday it has launched a special operation in high crime areas aimed at taking fraudulent Texas paper tags off the streets.

The announcement came at a city council work session where members quizzed police about what they are doing to tackle the problem.

A series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates recently exposed the massive scale of the black market, and some council members have taken notice.

“Of course, everyone has seen the NBC 5 news report,” said Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens.

Paper Tag Nation

paper tag nation Feb 14, 2022

Crash Victim's Parents Want More Cops to Police Paper Tag Fraud

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More Funding Needed to Fight Criminals Using Bogus Paper Tags: Police

paper tag nation Feb 10, 2022

Police Report Drop in Fraudulent Tags But Warn Crooks Are Adapting

Since the FWPD special operation began just three days ago, police said they have already busted bad guys using fraudulent tags in an effort to conceal other crimes.

In just eight hours of work spread over two days last weekend police said they stopped 41 cars and those stops lead to 16 arrests for other more serious crimes.

“They found weapons, they found drugs, people felony warrants. And now we’re going to be able to take those tags and work with our other partners to try to track those back to the people who were actually producing those fake tags,” said Fort Worth Chief Neil Noakes.

Briefing the council Tuesday, a deputy chief said the department has already zeroed in on some local operations believed to be selling tags.

“We currently have three open investigations on three locations in our city that are distributing and selling these tags illegally,” said Fort Worth Deputy Chief Pedro Criado.

Earlier this week, an NBC 5 investigation showed how police across the area are struggling to capture suspects using paper tags to conceal their identities as they steal, smuggle drugs, commit violent crimes and run from police.

The rogue dealers who sell tags for profit can enter false names and addresses into the state’s electronic tag system, creating ghost cars, which are difficult for police to track.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency told NBC 5 Investigates a major fentanyl smuggling ring busted in Fort Worth used paper tags.

“Every single vehicle that this particular organization was using to move their drugs from point A to point B were temp tags,” said Eduardo Chavez, DEA Special Agent in Charge.

Fort Worth Police said their officers have even seen people attempting to commit robberies and violent crimes, attach paper tags to their car just prior to the incident.

“We’ve actually had some of our covert units, witness some criminals in the process or about to commit a crime, and they pull over and physically take the hard tag the aluminum tag off their vehicle and put a temp tag prior to committing the crime,” Criado said.

Mayor Pro Tem Bivens urged people to be on the lookout and report tags that seem suspect.

“Whenever you see a paper tag, there is a good chance that that’s a driver who should not be on the road and who knows what history that driver has,” Bivens said.

Council Member Michael Crain urged police to do everything they can to tackle the problem. He noted his constituents have been hit by cars with fraudulent tags which often have no insurance.

“Those people are out of pocket for their deductible and everything else when they have been doing everything right”, Crain said.

Police assured the council they are on it.

“Rest assured that we’re going to continue combating the issue. We have this special operation is still going on”, Criado said.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Tue, Feb 15 2022 10:16:21 PM Crash Victim's Parents Want More Cops to Police Paper Tag Fraud https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/crash-victims-parents-want-more-cops-to-police-paper-tag-fraud/2890032/ 2890032 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/paper-tag-nation-terrin-solbrig-02.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The family of a teenager killed in a crash involving a truck with a fraudulent Texas paper license tag has a plea for state lawmakers and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott: Give law enforcement more tools to eliminate the massive marketplace for illegal paper tags.

Terrin Solbrig died in October 2020, his life ending in a cloud of dust along a country road in Caldwell County in Central Texas. 

“He was the nicest kid you’d ever meet,” said Terrin’s father, Stewart Solbrig.

While riding dirt bikes with a group at a friend’s ranch, the group ventured onto the road kicking up dust that left Terrin hidden from a pickup truck that was traveling down the middle of the road.

Stewart and Tawny Solbrig want the police to have more funding so that they can investigate

“It’s very hard to live with the fact that you don’t have your kid,” said Tawny Solbrig, Terrin’s mother.

That sadness and frustration only grew, the Solbrigs said, when they learned the pickup that hit their son had a fraudulent Texas paper tag.

It’s one of hundreds of thousands of tags issued by car dealers suspected of using the Texas Department of Motor Vehicle’s system to print tags and sell them for black market profits.

Paper Tag Nation

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NBC 5 Investigates first exposed the incredible scale of the problem in a series of reports that began in November.

The Solbrigs believe the truck that hit Terrin would not have been on the road without that fraudulent tag.

“It was not what caused the accident, but it actually started the process of that truck being on that road,” said Tawny.

NBC 5 Investigates obtained the tag number from the accident report and discovered the tag was issued by Texas Motor Company, a licensed car dealer that’s been investigated by the FBI for allegedly printing hundreds of thousands of fraudulent tags.

The FBI said the owner of Texas Motor Company, Emmanuel Padilla Reyes, also known as Christian Hernandez Bonilla, is currently a fugitive facing federal wire fraud charges accused of selling Texas tags across the United States.

The truck that hit Terrin Solbrig was not allowed to have any paper tag.

State records show it had not received a state inspection in years. Under Texas law, dealers can only issue temporary buyer’s tags to cars inspected in the last 180 days. And they can only issue buyers tags to vehicles they actually sell.

But as NBC 5 Investigates has reported, time and time again, small dealers have been able to use their dealer license to access the state’s electronic tag system, create tags, often using bogus names and addresses, and then sell them for black market profits.

The Solbrigs want it to stop.

“I want [them] to know that Terrin has a name,” Tawny Solbrig told NBC 5 Investigates.

Tawny Solbrig

“He didn’t just die on the side of that road for no reason. If something good could come out of this whole thing, it’s maybe that we could prevent somebody else’s family from having to experience the same tragedy that we’ve had,” Stewart Solbrig said in an interview.

The Solbrigs want Abbott and the state legislature to give police more funding to attack the problem.

In 2017, Abbott de-funded special police units that investigated paper tag and vehicle inspection fraud when he vetoed a clean air bill that helped pay for those units in big cities.

The governor said at the time he was opposed to what he called a “cash for clunkers” type of program in the bill.

But the veto also shut down special enforcement units like one in Dallas County that used to take tag sellers off the streets.

“I think it was very irresponsible for the governor to do it. And I think that if he ever had to experience what we had to experience, he would never have done that,” said Tawny Solbrig.

“We’d ask the governor, please reconsider … we need to eliminate the problem,” Stewart Solbrig said.

As NBC 5 Investigates reported on Sunday, police departments across North Texas say they need more help combatting serious crimes involving fraudulent tags.

From high-speed chases to drug smuggling and identity theft investigations police say suspects in crimes are often using fraudulent tags to hide.

Rogue car dealers who sell tags often enter false names and addresses into the state’s license tag system, investigators said. This effectively creates what police call “ghost cars” that are difficult to trace and help bad guys escape police detection.

Stewart Solbrig, says his son Terrin was the nicest kid you’d ever meet.

“These vehicles should not be on the road,” said Stewart.

The Solbrigs believe special police enforcement units are essential for sharing intelligence among law enforcement groups and training more police officers to recognize fraudulent tags.

In their son’s case, they say the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) did not even ticket the owner of the truck for having a fraudulent tag.

The Solbrigs have filed a complaint with DPS.

In a statement, a DPS spokesperson told NBC 5 Investigates the agency cannot comment on the case because the trooper who handled the crash, “…is currently under internal investigation by the Office of Inspector General for his handling of that incident.”

Tawny Solbrig addresses the Texas DMV board after her son was killed in a crash with a driver who had a bogus paper license tag.

At a recent TxDMV meeting, Tawny Solbrig told the agency’s board the DMV failed her family by allowing Texas Motor Company to print hundreds of thousands of tags before the agency revoked the company’s dealer license for suspected fraud.

“This accident never would have happened if the driver did not obtain illegal paper tags through your failed system,” said Tawny.

She said it is only the FBI and federal prosecutors who have helped bring justice.

“This dealership has been indicted because of those people over there,” Tawny Solbrig said, motioning toward law enforcement officials attending the meeting. “Not because of y’all. Y’all failed the system,” Solbrig added, referring to the DMV.

Now the Solbrigs are on a mission to see that the governor and state lawmakers give police more funds to find the fraudsters.

“Terrin loved to help others. He was all about it, is all about service, and we’re committed. We are very committed to making sure that this is not going to happen all the time and that there needs to be [a] change,” said Tawny.

For months, NBC 5 Investigates has reached out to Abbott’s office asking to speak with him about this issue. His staff has repeatedly turned down our interview requests.

Terrin Solbrig

Instead, they have sent NBC 5 Investigates the same written statement several times which says in part, “Gov. Abbott worked with the legislature and TxDMV to efficiently address the issue…”

The statement said the governor worked with the DMV to pass legislation allowing the agency to shut down dealers suspected of fraud more quickly and limit the number of tags dealers can print.

The statement goes on to say “…we continue working with (the DMV) and the legislature to review other potential legislative changes needed and build on this progress.”

After NBC 5’s investigation revealed the massive scope of the tag fraud problem in November, showing how it has become a $200 million black market business, the chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee pledged to hold hearings soon to begin addressing the issue even before the start of the next legislative session in January.

Paper Tag Nation

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Texas House Transportation Chair Vows to Stop Paper Tag Fraud

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DMV Committee Recommends Fingerprinting Some Dealers to Slow Paper Tag Fraud

paper tag nation Nov 23, 2021

Illegal Paper Tags Costing Texas Taxpayers and Toll Roads Millions

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Feb 14 2022 09:57:21 PM More Funding Needed to Fight Criminals Using Bogus Paper Tags: Police https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/more-funding-need-to-fight-criminals-using-bogus-paper-tags-police/2888805/ 2888805 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/paper-tag-nation-crimes.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has uncovered more cases where fraudulent Texas temporary paper license plates, which are often sold illegally by small car dealers, ended up on vehicles used in serious crimes.

Police said the problem has grown to the point where Texas paper tags have become a felon’s best friend.

After first exposing how crooks were selling paper tags for a profit on a massive scale, NBC 5 Investigates wanted to see how often those tags were used on cars to commit crimes and hide from police.

The cars with illegal paper tags are often dubbed “ghost cars” by police because of the difficulty associated with tracking those cars when the tag was created using false information.

“They give people anonymity. It’s a cloak, if you will, for the vehicle. They can use that number to hide who they are, where they live,” said Lake Worth Chief of Police J.T. Manoushagian.

J.T. Manoushagian
Lake Worth Chief of Police J.T. Manoushagian.

Manoushagian said the fraudulent paper tags are a constant problem that his officers deal with every day.

Even federal agents are running into trouble when chasing criminals transporting drugs through North Texas in ghost cars.

“At least 80% of the investigations that we’re conducting at some point have involved surveillance of vehicles or stops of drug-laden vehicles that have temp tags,” said Eduardo Chavez, DEA Special Agent in Charge.

One example, they said, is vehicles used by a major fentanyl smuggling ring in Fort Worth.

“Every single vehicle that this particular organization was using to move their drugs from Point A to Point B were [using] temp tags,” Chavez said.

DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chavez
NBC 5 Investigates’ Scott Friedman talks with DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chavez about the trouble with paper license tags.

As NBC 5 Investigates first reported, a lack of thorough vetting at the Texas DMV has allowed crooks, some even using stolen identities, to obtain car dealer’s licenses and then gain access to the state’s tag system. Our investigation showed how the DMV does not fingerprint dealers when they apply for dealer licenses, allowing people with bad intentions to become “dealers” so they can sell tags instead of cars.

Once they are into the DMV’s electronic tag system those dealers can create tags registered to false names and addresses, print those tags, and sell them for profit on the black market. When police stop cars with fraudulent tags the bogus information in the computer can then be a dead end.

Paper Tag Nation

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TxDMV Director Resigns Amidst Paper Tag Mess

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TxDMV Takes Emergency Action to Keep Crooks From Selling Paper Tags

“A paper tag has become that hood that the bad guys put on their cars to mask the car’s identity,” said Derick Miller, Carrollton Chief of Police.

When Carrollton police chased a driver suspected of firing shots into a house in October they said they feared if the car got away they might not find it because the car had a paper tag and so many paper tags are fraudulent.

DMV records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show the tag on that car was created by a dealer we exposed in November — Freeman Auto. In that report, we showed how Travis County investigators believe Freeman Auto is a shell company created to illegally sell tags.

“I’ve been to Freeman. It doesn’t exist,” said Sgt. Jose Escribano, Travis County Constables, Precinct 3.

Jose Escribano
Travis County Constable Sgt. Jose Escribano talks about the black market boom of bogus paper tags in Texas.

State inspection records show the car that ran from Carrollton police was not allowed to have a paper tag from Freeman or any other car dealer because the state records indicate the car had not been inspected since 2019.

Dealers can only legally issue paper tags for cars that had a state inspection in the last 180 days and the dealer issuing the tag must be the dealer that actually sold the car.

“These tags coming out of one or two specific dealerships that you’ve identified are masking and basically enabling these bad guys to commit crimes,” Miller said.

Freeman Auto has not responded to numerous attempts to reach them. The DMV eventually shut Freeman down for suspected fraud.

In Arlington, police said they recently found a Freeman Auto tag used to disguise a stolen truck so that it could be sold to an unsuspecting buyer.

Arlington Police Sgt. Richard Coleman.
Arlington Police Sgt. Richard Coleman.

“That vehicle had all the identification numbers switched on it, and it had a paper tag that matched those false identification numbers,” said Sgt. Richard Coleman, with the Arlington Police Department.

After a recent hit-and-run crash, Arlington police began searching for the car and found five different cars driving around with copies of the same fraudulent paper tag.

Officer Eric Bray, a hit-and-run investigator with the Arlington Police Department, said he assumes any paper tag is probably illegitimate unless it’s on a new car.

Arlington Police Officer Eric Bray
“Anytime I see a paper tag, unless it’s a brand spanking new car, I’m running with the assumption that it’s probably illegitimate,” said Arlington Police Officer Eric Bray.

“This problem has risen to a level where it requires significant action and attention,” Manoushagian said. He estimated about half of the tags his officers see in Lake Worth are fraudulent.

In one particular stop, the tag was for an Audi but the driver was behind the wheel of a Lexus. Inside the car, officers said they found more than 100 stolen debit cards, some with PINs on them. Lake Worth police said the man admitted to being part of an international group that applied for cards in other people’s names and then swiped them from the victim’s mailbox when they arrived.

Investigators suspected the man used the fraudulent tag with the hope he’d avoid being caught if someone spotted him stealing mail.

Police officers in Lake Worth say this Lexus had temporary paper plates registered to an Audi.

“I would beg and plead with our lawmakers to take action now to correct this problem,” Manoushagian said, adding the area needs a tag fraud task force.

Dallas County had a task force, but as we reported Gov. Greg Abbott effectively de-funded those police units statewide in 2017 when he vetoed a clean air bill that contained funding for those teams in major cities across the state.

Since then police told us they’ve seen more crimes involving bogus tags.

“Any funding that we could get, to get some money to focus intentional efforts on this problem, would be paramount for us,” Miller said.

It’s not just local police asking for help.

Off-duty New Orleans police officer Everett Briscoe was shot and killed during a robbery in Houston by two men who left the scene of the crime in a car with paper tags. One of Briscoe’s friends is now calling for more to be done to curb the proliferation of illegal tags.

Everett Briscoe
New Orleans police officer Everett Briscoe was killed while vacationing in Houston by two men who escaped in a vehicle with paper tags.

Briscoe’s death devastated friends in New Orleans including Jay Banks, a city councilman who knew Briscoe as a fellow member of a legendary Mardi Gras Parade Krewe.

“This cancer of senseless violence has got to stop,” Banks said, through tears after the incident in June.

Houston police declined to provide details on the tag involved in the shooting citing the ongoing investigation into Briscoe’s murder. Banks believes Texas needs to give police more money to make sure paper tags cannot be used to cover any crime.

“This is not just a white-collar, victimless crime if you are giving somebody a tool to go out and do a drive-by or a carjacking or a robbery of somebody,” Banks said.

Jay Banks
Jay Banks, whose friend New Orleans police officer Everett Briscoe, was killed while vacationing in Houston by two men who escaped in a vehicle with paper tags, says more needs to be done to stop the proliferation of bogus tags.

For months Abbott has been silent on this issue. NBC 5 Investigates has asked to interview him multiple times but his office has declined.  A spokesperson recently pointed us back to a previous statement the governor’s office sent NBC 5 which says that the governor has worked with the legislature to implement new rules that allow the DMV to shut down dealers suspected of fraud more quickly.

The statement goes on to say, “…we continue working with (the DMV) and the legislature to review other potential legislative changes needed and build on this progress.”

Meanwhile, since NBC 5 Investigates exposed the scale of paper tag fraud in November, the agency’s executive director recently resigned. Our reporting fueled more questions about the DMV’s own records which showed how people posing as dealers were able to print tens and even hundreds of thousands of tags for months, even though they appeared to have no business location where they were selling cars.

In the wake of NBC 5’s reporting, the Texas DMV board has started developing a plan to implement tougher background checks for people applying for dealer licenses. In January the DMV board approved new rules that allow the agency to crack down on dealers suspected of fraud more quickly by immediately denying them access to the electronic tag system.

But police told us they already see the crooks adapting to find ways to still obtain the tags which is why they said they still need funding for more investigators to tackle track down the offenders.

Part two of this story aired Monday night on NBC 5 News at 10 p.m. In that report, you’ll hear from a family pleading with the governor and the legislature to help solve this problem. They lost their son in a car crash involving a vehicle with a fraudulent tag. Click here for that story.

PAPER TAG NATION

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Texas House Transportation Chair Vows to Stop Paper Tag Fraud

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DMV Committee Recommends Fingerprinting Some Dealers to Slow Paper Tag Fraud

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PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Sun, Feb 13 2022 10:55:14 PM Police Report Drop in Fraudulent Tags But Warn Crooks Are Adapting https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/police-report-drop-in-fraudulent-tags-but-warn-crooks-are-adapting/2886380/ 2886380 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2021/08/texas-paper-tag-2021.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The top law enforcement agency that investigates fraudulent Texas tags reports big signs of progress in the fight to stop the bad guys who have infiltrated the Texas DMV’s system and turned temporary license plates into a huge black-market enterprise.

At a TxDMV board meeting in Austin Thursday, a detective with the Travis County Constable’s Office told the board he has seen a significant decline in the number of tags issued by a group of small car dealers he is investigating, suspected of printing massive numbers of tags and selling them for profits.

“It used to be 25,000 tags each week from these criminal dealers, 25,000 a week, we are now seeing numbers in the hundreds,” said Cpl. Mike Bradburn, Travis County Constables, Precinct 3.

Paper Tag Nation

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Texas DMV Shuts Down Six More Dealers Suspected of Selling Paper License Tags

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Bradburn credited new rules the DMV board approved two weeks ago, allowing staff to immediately shut down dealers suspected of fraud by denying them access to the system that allows them to print tags.

NBC 5 Investigates blew the whistle on the scale of the fraud in November, showing how crooks have been able to get car dealer licenses and turn paper tags into a $200 million illicit business.

Our reports exposed DMV records showing how some small dealers printed hundreds of thousands of tags before the DMV could stop them.

But in the months since NBC 5’s reports began, there’s been new urgency from the DMV board.

“There’s been a level of frustration where we weren’t able to move forward with the kind of speed that we are now,” said Charles Bacarisse, chairman of the TxDMV board, in an interview with NBC 5 Investigates.

Bacarisse promises to aggressively attack the problem with help from new leadership after DMV executive director Whitney Brewster resigned earlier this week.

“I think that the board was ready to move in a new direction. and I think that they are now feeling like the agency has really gotten up under this issue,” Bacarisse told NBC 5.

Paper Tag Nation

paper tag nation Jan 21, 2022

Dallas Police Operation Targets Fraudulent Paper Tags

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Recording Shows Police Warned TxDMV of Paper Tag Security Flaw Years Ago

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Texas House Transportation Chair Vows to Stop Paper Tag Fraud

But police warned they need more help, because as the DMV adapts, so do the bad guys.

Instead of obtaining one car dealer license to print hundreds of thousands of tags, investigators now believe organized criminal groups are using multiple dealer licenses to sell tags in smaller numbers and to avoid drawing attention.

“I personally think we are going to see a lot of low-level dealers pop up because IP addresses show they have a lot of licenses right now,” Bradburn said.

Law enforcement officials want the DMV to fingerprint dealers to stop crooks from getting dealer’s licenses in the first place and to track down bad actors who slip through the cracks.

On Thursday, the board asked staff to accelerate a fingerprinting plan, hoping to approve it as early as this spring.

Bacarisse and other board members spoke during the meeting of trying to move as fast as they can, without making mistakes, and about prioritizing fingerprinting at the top of the list of efforts to tackle the problem.

As NBC 5 Investigates has reported, the DMV has not thoroughly vetted car dealer license applicants, allowing even people using stolen identities to get dealer licenses and then access the state’s electronic tag system.

DMV staff is also developing plans to hire more inspectors to check car dealerships before they open, to make sure they are not shell companies set up to sell tags.

On Thursday Bacarisse said he plans to ask the legislature for more tools to tackle the problem.

“I think we’re going to come to them – that legislative leadership – and ask them to help us continue to fix the challenges,” Bacarisse said.

He said he also hopes that law enforcement will soon have real-time access to the state’s eTag system. Officers have complained that it sometimes takes them days to get information from the DMV if they are investigating a car with a paper tag, involved in a crime, and need to locate information about the dealer that printed the tag.

Late Thursday, the DMV board named Daniel Avitia as the agency’s new interim executive director. Avitia has served as a deputy executive director. Bacarisse said in an interview that Avitia has the enforcement-related experience that should help the agency deal with its top priority, at the moment, curbing the sale of fraudulent tags.

Shelly Mellott who was named interim executive director on Monday, after Brewster’s departure, will stay on at the DMV in her role as a deputy executive director, an agency spokesman said.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Thu, Feb 10 2022 09:51:19 PM Texas DMV Shuts Down Six More Dealers Suspected of Selling Paper License Tags https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/texas-dmv-shuts-down-six-more-dealers-suspected-of-selling-paper-license-tags/2884896/ 2884896 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2021/11/paper-tags-1.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles shut down six more car dealers in the fight to stop the sale of paper license tags.

Just 13 days ago the DMV board authorized staff to immediately suspend the licenses of dealers suspected of illegally selling paper tags.

In the short time since then, the agency’s enforcement staff says it has already cut off a half dozen dealers so they can no longer get into the system, print tags and sell them for profit.

Before now, as NBC 5 Investigates has revealed in a series of reports, rogue dealers were able to print hundreds of thousands of tags before the DMV cut them off. The agency said it could not move faster to revoke dealer licenses until the legislature gave the agency that authority and the board implemented new administrative rules which just recently went into effect.

DMV executive director Whitney Brewster resigned Monday in the wake of the NBC5 reports and questions from law enforcement and the DMV board about whether the agency could have moved faster to stop the fraud.

The agency’s new interim executive director, Shelly Mellott, listened Wednesday as DMV staff briefed members of the DMV board during a legislative and public affairs committee meeting about new steps they are taking to tighten security

Their briefing detailed how much more work is needed to prevent bad actors from using the state’s tag system to make fraudulent profits.

Paper Tag Nation

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TxDMV Takes Emergency Action to Keep Crooks From Selling Paper Tags

Staff is developing plans to start inspecting small car dealers in person before they get a license to make sure they really exist and are not just obtaining a license to sell tags.

But the DMV said it currently does not have the staff to do that.

“In order to conduct premise inspections of all of these locations we would need investigators and vehicles positioned staged across the state and they would need additional support in Austin,” said Brian Ge, TxDMV Managing Attorney.

DMV staff said it would need at least more than a dozen new employees and almost $1 million a year just to inspect the number of new dealerships that opened last year.

“We would need investigators and vehicles positioned – staged across the state and would need additional support staff in Austin, Ge said.

Staff members also said they are continuing to develop plans to start fingerprinting dealers. The agency is looking at using private contractors to conduct the fingerprinting if the DMV board gives the green light.

As NBC 5 Investigates has previously reported the DMV does not fingerprint and fully vet people applying for car dealer licenses, the licenses which also give them access to the state’s electronic tag system. The DMV has acknowledged dealer licenses have been obtained by people using stolen identities and then use that license to create and sell fraudulent tags.

The board that oversees the DMV began pushing to implement fingerprinting after NBC 5 Investigates shined a light on that security loophole.

Today the agency’s director of the vehicle title and registration division, Roland Luna Sr., said he also wants software changes in the electronic tag system to prevent dealers from obtaining tags when entering false vehicle identification numbers. The DMV’s system currently does not verify that the VIN entered matches the vehicle the tag is being issued to.

“We think it is important when the 17 character VIN is inserted into the system that it can be validated. The only way the VIN can be validated is if we use VIN decoding”, Luna said.

Law enforcement officials who attended Wednesday’s meeting said they were encouraged by what they heard. Some have complained the DMV has been slow to act.

“It’s a start there’s a long way to go but like I said we’re now starting to see more cooperation out of them”, said Travis County Constable Stacy Suits.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Wed, Feb 09 2022 06:45:46 PM TxDMV Director Resigns Amidst Paper Tag Mess https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/txdmv-director-whitney-brewster-resigns-amidst-paper-tag-mess/2882527/ 2882527 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/01/texas-dmv-whitney-brewster.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The executive director of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Whitney Brewster, resigned Monday as the board that oversees the agency grapples with restoring credibility to the state’s temporary license plate system in the wake of an NBC 5 investigation that exposed how lax security allowed criminals to infiltrate the DMV’s system, create hundreds of thousands of paper license tags, and sell them for profit.

In a resignation letter obtained by NBC 5 Investigates, Brewster said, “Addressing temporary tag abuse has been our highest priority,” and that she is proud of how the department worked to find solutions to the problem. The letter goes on to say, “In leaving, the deck is clear for new leadership.”

The agency confirmed Brewster’s departure in a news release Monday afternoon.

In recent months Brewster faced criticism from law enforcement officials concerned about the number of fraudulent tags on Texas roads, and questions from the agency’s own board about why the DMV did not act more quickly to collaborate with law enforcement and enact measures to stem the tide of illegal tags.

One DMV board member, Manny Ramirez, who also heads Fort Worth’s police union said Monday that he hoped a n new executive director would help the agency more aggressively stop the fraudsters.

“Our number one priority, and what we are valuing, is public safety and I think that we have an opportunity now to to really lead the charge and make some of the changes that that are necessary to ensure that we can keep our Texas safe”, Ramirez told NBC5 Investigates.

By one recent law enforcement estimate, more than 1.2 million fraudulent tags were created in 2021, by people who were able to apply for and obtain Texas car dealers licenses and then access the state’s electronic tag system.

Police said many of those tags are created with false names, addresses, and VIN numbers and can be used to make “ghost cars” that are difficult for police to trace. The fraudulent Texas tags have become a headache for law enforcement in other states too, including Nevada and New York where police say the tags are being used by people attempting to conceal crimes.

In November, NBC 5 Investigates began airing a series of reports that revealed the massive scope of the problem. The reports were the first to use the DMV’s own data to show how tiny dealers, including some that seem to exist only on paper, have printed more temporary paper plates than many of the state’s largest franchise car dealers.  A clear sign, law enforcement investigators said, that those small dealerships were selling tags, and not cars.

PAPER TAG NATION

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TxDMV Takes Emergency Action to Keep Crooks From Selling Paper Tags

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Texas House Transportation Chair Vows to Stop Paper Tag Fraud

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DMV Committee Recommends Fingerprinting Some Dealers to Slow Paper Tag Fraud

The NBC 5 reports also showed how the TxDMV does not meet with dealer license applicants in person or take their fingerprints to verify the identity of the person applying for the dealer license.  Additionally, the TxDMV has allowed dealers to add “authorized users” to their accounts, giving additional un-vetted people the ability to issue temporary tags via the state’s eTag/Web Dealer system.

When confronted with the information NBC 5 Investigates uncovered last fall, Brewster acknowledged the problem had become an “emergency” but insisted her hands had been tied because the agency lacked legislative authority to immediately revoke the licenses of suspect dealers, prior to the passage of a new law in mid-2021. She said the agency was also unsure whether it had the legislative authority to fingerprint people applying for dealer licenses to verify their identities.

But as NBC 5 Investigates continued to delve into the problem, the reporting found some law enforcement officials had complained for years about a lack of cooperation from the DMV and a lack of security in the tag system, including one flaw that allowed unscrupulous dealers to enter false VIN numbers and still obtain temporary tags. The DMV insisted it attempted to fix that flaw after police first raised the concern in 2019, but the agency said it was unaware until December 2021 that fraudsters had found another way to upload files containing false VIN’s and obtain temporary tags. That security loophole was finally closed days after NBC 5 Investigates questioned the agency about it.

At a board meeting 11 days ago the DMV Board gave final approval to new rules that will allow the DMV to more quickly revoke the licenses of dealers suspected of fraud. The board also asked staff to fast-track a plan for fingerprinting dealer applicants.

PAPER TAG NATION

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After that meeting, Ramirez, the lone DMV board member who represents law enforcement, expressed frustration with the amount of time it has taken the DMV to respond to the problem.

Ramirez, who joined the board more recently, said the actions the board approved recently are steps that the agency should have taken, “years ago.”

At that recent board meeting, NBC 5 Investigates asked Brewster how people could trust that she was looking out for Texas when the fraud grew into such a significant problem under her watch.

“So, the agency is required to follow Texas law,” Brewster responded, reiterating that she felt the agency has been hampered by a lack of legislative authority. 

After the initial NBC 5 Investigates reports aired, the chairman of the Texas House Transportation Committee, Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburgh), vowed in December to hold committee hearings to investigate what additional steps need to be taken to correct the problems. Brewster said this month that she expects the tag issue will be an interim charge for the legislature to take up between now and the start of the 2023 legislative session.

In a resignation message released by the DMV Monday Brewster said, “Unfortunately, challenges and difficulties still face the state and our organization.”

The statement went on to say, “Often the hardest thing to do as a public servant leader is to step back and accept that you have done everything you can, and that it might be time to allow new leadership to take the reins.”

Brewster was named Texas DMV executive director in 2012. A Houston native, Brewster previously served as director of the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles and before that as Alaska’s director of elections in the office of then-governor Sarah Palin. Brewster was only the second executive director to lead the TxDMV since the agency’s creation in 2009.

In a statement the DMV said Deputy Executive Director Shelly Mellott would lead the agency until the DMV board selects a permanent replacement. The board is scheduled to meet again later this week to discuss the tag situation.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

]]> Mon, Feb 07 2022 05:14:23 PM Despite No Winterization Standards, Railroad Comm. Says Gas System ‘98% Winterized' https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/despite-no-winterization-standards-texas-railroad-commission-declares-gas-system-98-winterized/2879499/ 2879499 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/02/natural-gas-well-kxas.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 NBC 5 Investigates has obtained state records that raise questions about what has been done to prepare the state’s natural gas system for the winter, and whether gas supply problems could put the power grid at risk if the state faced another historic storm like the state experienced last February.

The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates natural gas companies, announced in January that it had visited thousands of gas wells and pipelines to check their readiness for the upcoming season.

In a January news release, the commission declared, “… about 98% of the facilities visited had been winterized.”

But when NBC 5 Investigates filed an open records request asking the commission for records detailing those site visits, the data the commission provided seemed to raise more questions than answers about the definition of “winterized,” and what those site visits really found.

The records show when inspectors asked oil and gas well operators, “Have you finished preparation for this facility for the winter season?” 94% responded “Yes.”

But when asked specifically what they had done to prepare for winter the answers the inspectors received seemed less reassuring.

When oil and gas facility operators were asked, for example, “Was there a test/simulation of the weather preparedness procedures at this facility?” 61% said “No,” “Did not know” or “Did not answer.”

Asked if cold weather barriers were being used for winter protection, 55% said “No.”

And, when inspectors visited gas pipeline facilities, 63% said “No” when asked if heat systems are being used for weather protection.

“In general terms, it’s one thing to say that yes, we’re winterized, yes we’re ready. It’s a totally different thing when you get into the specifics about what that actually means,” said Austin-based energy consultant, Doug Lewin.

Lewin said the trouble is the Texas Railroad Commission still has not adopted any weatherization rules for gas facilities.

Unlike the state’s Public Utility Commission which has set tough new winter standards for electric generating plants, the railroad commission is not expected to write weatherization rules for the gas industry until later this year.

So, when the commission sent inspectors to conduct winter site visits, they had no rules to enforce.

“How do we know whether or not they are actually ready for winter if there is not a standard?” Lewin asked.

“The Railroad Commission didn’t move as fast. They are still working on their weatherization rules. So, their rules aren’t in place,” Brad Jones, ERCOT’s interim CEO said in an interview with NBC 5 Investigates.

Jones said he’s concerned about the lack of gas system rules this winter and that ERCOT only gets a fraction of the information it needs about gas supply right now. He said he does not know enough about the railroad commission’s site visits to judge how well gas facilities have winterized.

“I really don’t know. That’s a question I can’t answer. I know they’ve been very strongly in defense of their program, but I don’t know what the program is like,” said Jones.

The oil and gas industry’s top lobbyist insists no reason to worry.

“This is a robust system. Billions of dollars goes into making sure it works right. And I’m very confident that the men and women in this system are doing their job,” said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association

When asked what standard is being used to judge whether they’re ready when there is no state standard, Staples told NBC 5, “You know, I think the very important thing to recognize here is that every oil and gas well is designed differently. I mean, there’s no cookie-cutter approach.”

Staples said the facilities that told inspectors they had no weather protection heat systems or cold weather barriers may be facilities designed in ways that don’t require them.

And, in a statement to NBC 5, the railroad commission said, “…each site visit is a snapshot in time…some of the sites had yet to finish winterizing…”

Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright told NBC 5 more work has been done to winterize facilities since the site visits were completed.

“I can tell you with certainty after those inspectors went out and viewed these facilities that we were having lots of activity and people being enhancing more of what their weatherization looks like,” Wright said.

NBC 5 Investigates asked Wright why the commission did not release more detailed results of the site visits, which NBC 5 Investigates had to obtain through an open records request, and why the commission did not discuss the results during a briefing about those visits during a public meeting in January.

On Jan. 11 the commission’s executive director, Wei Wang, briefed the railroad commissioners about the site visits. He said inspectors had visited 3,700 facilities, representing more than 21,000 gas wells.

But a recording of the meeting shows Wang did not discuss any of the findings of those visits and his briefing lasted only 58 seconds.

The commissioners did not ask Wang any questions about what the site visits had uncovered.

Wright told NBC 5 he agreed the railroad commission could do more to be transparent.

“I think that’s a good point, and I’ve always been big on making sure that we had transparency here at the agency,” said Wright.

Wright said does not think it was misleading for the commission to say 98% of gas facilities are winterized because he believes 98% have taken additional steps to prepare.

The question for some observers — is what steps?

“So, when you ask if you’re weatherizing, they’re all saying yes because they think they are because there is no standard. It’s just left to each person to individually interpret,” said Lewin.

Lewin said there is evidence the gas system is not winterized as much as it needs to be, pointing to what happened during a Jan. 2 cold snap.

Data from several firms that track natural gas production reported about a 20% drop in gas supply in the Permian Basin, Lewin said.  That was not enough to cause problems at power plants but enough to make some industry observers wonder how the gas system would perform if it faced another historic storm on the scale of Winter Storm Uri in 2021.

During the ice storm that struck Texas this week, the railroad commission acknowledged gas production declined again in the cold weather.

But speaking at a state news conference, Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick said, “The fluctuation is really within the normal range and we continue to talk with operators to make sure that gas continues to flow.”

The Texas Oil & Gas Association released a statement saying that it expected production declines to continue on Thursday as the cold and ice affected gas equipment, but the industry organization insisted there would be plenty of gas to supply power plants and homes across the state.

Still, for some, the production declines are an indication that more steps need to be taken to harden the gas system for the winter, especially given its connection to the power grid.

“We still have a problem having our gas supply ready for winter and especially in a winter storm Uri type event”, said Chrysta Castaneda, an oil and gas industry attorney, and former railroad commission candidate.

]]> Thu, Feb 03 2022 11:08:50 PM ERCOT Exec Proposes ‘Gas Desk' to Help Texas Avoid Winter Power Outages https://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/ercot-exec-proposes-gas-desk-to-help-texas-avoid-power-outages/2872277/ 2872277 post https://media.nbcdfw.com/2022/01/Power-Plant.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=300,169 The top executive in charge of the Texas power grid wants to create a special “gas desk” at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to monitor the supply of natural gas to power plants across the state.

ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones talked about that plan Friday while speaking at an energy forum in Dallas.

He said ERCOT needs to get more advanced warnings of gas supply issues that might affect power plants.

In an interview with NBC 5 Investigates‘ senior investigative reporter Scott Friedman, Jones said in one case last fall, ERCOT was not notified of maintenance work on a pipeline connected to a power plant that was needed to supply extra power.

From new records revealing the causes of the massive February power outages to new interviews revealing potential solutions, NBC 5 Investigates gets to the bottom of the state’s power problems in the ongoing streaming series “Powerless,” available here.

“Not having that information is a concern to me,” Jones said. “ERCOT should have that information. And if we have a gas desk, a person that sits with the other operators of the electric grid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that person could assist us by making sure everyone is informed of when maintenance is occurring, when their outages due to breakage and equipment.”

The president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, Todd Staples, also spoke at that event Friday. We asked him if he believes there is a need for more monitoring of the gas system.

Staples said the system is working well as it is and that the natural gas industry believes fuel problems were only a small part of what caused the massive power outages that crippled Texas last winter.

ERCOT told NBC 5 they are keeping a close eye on weather conditions for next Friday when temperatures are expected to drop.

The grid operator said it is coordinating with power companies and state emergency managers in an effort to avoid any problems.

Digital Series: Powerless

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