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BMV chief is indicted for alleged license fraud
The U.S. government has indicted Bureau of Motor Vehicles director Juana Deleon Guerrero on a charge of license fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert S. Flores Jr., filed the indictment against Deleon Guerrero in the U.S. District Court for the NMI over the weekend on a charge of conspiring with others to unlawfully produce an identification document.
According to the indictment, Deleon Guerrero conspired with Li Yongde, also known as Ivan, from about Sept. 1, 2021, through about Oct. 31, 2022, to unlawfully produce a CNMI driver’s license.
“[The defendants] knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with each other, and other persons known and unknown to the grand jury, to commit an offense against the United States: specifically, to knowingly and without lawful authority produce an identification document, authentication feature, and false identification document, to wit a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands driver licenses, and the prohibited production, transfer, possession, and use was in or affected interstate and foreign commerce, including the transfer of a document by electronic means, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, 10 Sections 1028(a)(1), (b)(l)(A)(ii), (c)(3)(A) & (f),” Flores said.
Deleon Guerrero is set to appear before the court today at 1:30pm.
The indictment against Deleon Guerrero comes after the recent raid the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted on the bureau.
Back in December 2022, FBI agents raided BMV and the CNMI Department of Public Safety’s central office. At around 3:30pm last Dec. 17, 2022, FBI agents showed up unannounced at BMV and DPS central office in Susupe to carry out a search warrant issued for both departments.
At the scene, Saipan Tribune observed that FBI agents had plastered handwritten “closed” signs on all the doors of the BMV, closing up shop and putting a stop to all BMV activities for the rest of the day as they conducted their search.
Meanwhile, at DPS central office, FBI agents were reportedly seen going into administrative offices but were not seen taking anything. They were, however, seen taking photos of documents and others.
