Authorities dismantle large-scale driver's license forgery network

The Prosecutor General’s Office has carried out investigative actions in a criminal case opened against employees of one territorial Public Services Center and other individuals suspected of forging driver’s licenses.

Investigators found that a specialist at a Public Services Center, acting in collusion with accomplices, issued forged driver’s licenses throughout the year to citizens who did not have the legal right to operate motor vehicles. In total, the group received UZS 616 million from 72 individuals.

The suspects, who operated near driving schools, offered driver’s licenses in exchange for money without requiring applicants to pass exams, relying on forged documents. Two methods were used to issue the fake licenses.

In the first case, for a fee of $500–1000, the group produced old-style driver’s licenses through third parties using makeshift methods and handed them over to clients. Bribes were then paid to an employee of a district Public Services Center to ensure that these forged licenses, allegedly submitted by the citizens themselves, were accepted and replaced with newly issued licenses.

In the second case, for payments of up to $10,000, the suspects forged certificates from territorial divisions of the Main Traffic Safety Directorate, falsely stating that citizens already held valid driver’s licenses. These certificates were equipped with forged signatures and QR codes and then given to clients. Bribes were subsequently paid to an employee of a district Public Services Center, allowing new driver’s licenses to be issued on the basis of the forged QR-coded certificates.

“In both cases, citizens, knowing that they had never previously held driver’s licenses, approached Public Services Centers with forged documents and claimed that their licenses had supposedly been lost. As a result, all 72 citizens also became accomplices to the crimes,” the statement said.

Inspections conducted by the Prosecutor General’s Office across the regions uncovered more than 1,200 forged driver’s licenses, with the highest number recorded in Tashkent – 440 cases.

Criminal cases have been opened in connection with all of the above incidents. All driver’s licenses obtained by citizens on the basis of forged documents have been annulled.