Three Arrested in Driver's License Exam Fraud Scheme in Miami-Dade

Authorities from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office apprehended three individuals on Wednesday, accused of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to cheat on Florida's computerized driver's license exam, as detailed in an official statement released by the agency on Thursday.

The arrested men are identified as Karel Clavel-Beltrán, 46, from Hialeah; Miguel Núñez-García, 47, from Miami; and Alexis Franc Fernández, 63, from Tampa.

The operation occurred around 10:00 a.m. at the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office located in the Midway Crossings shopping center on 7795 W. Flagler Street. It was executed by detectives from the agency's Public Corruption Unit.

The MDSO release outlined that Clavel-Beltrán utilized strategically placed cameras and earpieces to assist Mr. Miguel Núñez-García and Mr. Alexis Fernández in cheating on the computerized exam for a driver's license.

According to the arrest report accessed by Local 10, Clavel-Beltrán was the mastermind behind the scheme, equipping the other two suspects with a polo shirt fitted with a button camera and an earpiece. These devices allowed him to relay the exam answers from outside the venue.

Núñez-García arrived at the shopping center in a white truck, changed into the purple polo shirt with hidden devices inside the vehicle, took the exam, and passed it. Upon exiting, he met Clavel-Beltrán inside the mall, handed him $600 in cash as payment for the service, and changed his clothes again.

It was at this moment that an officer from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles intercepted him.

Núñez-García confessed to authorities that he wore the electronic devices and that Clavel-Beltrán dictated the answers to him because he does not understand English, the language in which the exam has been administered since February 6.

Per the report, Núñez-García had failed the test multiple times before resorting to fraud.

Fernández's case followed a similar pattern but with a different outcome: he did not pass the exam because he was unable to hear Clavel-Beltrán through the earpiece. Fernández also carried cash intended for Clavel-Beltrán but was apprehended by an investigator before making the payment.

Authorities noted that in these schemes, it is common for candidates to use a polo shirt to conceal recording devices and then change clothes once the exam is completed.

Clavel-Beltrán, upon his arrest, presented authorities with a Florida driver's license bearing a name different from his own, adding a charge of providing false identification after detention.

Fernández and Núñez-García face charges for cheating and unlawful use of a communication device, while Clavel-Beltrán is additionally charged with organizing a scheme to defraud.

This arrest comes amid growing concerns about license exam fraud in Miami-Dade. In June, a similar scheme involving hidden electronic devices was identified by the Tax Collector's Office, although no immediate arrests were made at that time.

Exacerbating the issue is the FLHSMV regulation that mandates all exams be conducted solely in English, eliminating Spanish and other language options, thereby increasing pressure on Spanish-speaking candidates who do not master English, like the two defendants who took the exam on Wednesday.

In April, Waldersee Oge, a 46-year-old employee at the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office, was arrested for issuing fraudulent driver's licenses in exchange for payments through Zelle, with no physical presence of the clients.

The Sheriff's Office emphasized that attempts to obtain a driver's license through fraud or deception will not be tolerated, and those who try to circumvent the law will be investigated and held accountable.