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Hazmat license fraud ring

By Michelle Malkin  •  September 22, 2006 11:53 AM

Yes, it’s worrisome (hat tip- LM):

More than 200 Somalian and Bosnian immigrants illegally obtained Missouri commercial driver’s licenses or certifications to handle hazardous materials through a West Plains truck-driving school that had a contract with the state, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Fifteen people were named in a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday, including the former superintendent of South Central Career Center, a truck-driving school operated by the West Plains public school district.

The 62-count indictment –with charges ranging from conspiracy and mail fraud to illegally producing documents — relates to the issuance of licenses at SCCC and an agreement it had with a Kansas City truck driver training center…

…Authorities said they don’t think terrorism was involved, but the actions of the key defendants posed a homeland security risk. “It is not just the government’s responsibility. It is a collective obligation that all of us share,” said Schlozman in his remarks.

Special Agent Jeff Lanza, with the FBI in Kansas City, said 12 of the defendants were in custody Thursday.

A third key defendant is Ernest A. “Mustafa” White, 49, who ran the Kansas City-area MBS (Muslim Brothers and Sisters) driving school. White is alleged to have provided test answers to students at his driving school and also was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

May allegedly took money from White in exchange for a shortened test, and allowed White and others at MBS to take the test for their students. May would then sign the appropriate forms indicating a student had passed. At times, May would allow tests to be administered on the weekends, against its contract with the state.

Proffitt knew of the wrongdoing, including that May allegedly stole $6,000 from the school, but failed to report anything to the school or state, and even signed documents to make it appear May was not exceeding state limits when he tested more than the state allowed in a given day, the affidavit said.

The West Plains school had been under the FBI radar for years, Lanza said, when the Missouri Highway Patrol alerted them of a large number of applicants with names that appeared Middle Eastern in origin.

***

Flashback: Nabil al-Marabh and Hazmat truck plot

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