T&T's biggest racket in history
Richard Charan (T&T Express)
There exists a public service department in this country where customer care is five-star, where your every wish is fulfilled in the shortest time and with the least burden upon you - weary citizen.
And you've got three locations from which to chose - North, South and Tobago.
Like the Hyatt or Hilton, you're met at the entrance, ushered to the car park, and given personalised care - every service explained and fee outlined.
There is food and drink, but no overnight stay.
That's because when you check in at THE LICENSING OFFICE, and deal with its "employees", you can be out of there in an hour.
But if you do, you will have participated in one of this country's deepest, darkest, and most far reaching rackets in history.
So big is the scam that there is an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles on the nation's roads that are in some way tied to the corruption, some believe.
And the fraud is equal-opportunity, accessible to the man with the rusted old car, to the millionaires with auto dealership, and everyone in between.
It has generated a down-stream industry amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually, with its own workforce.
- The touts, not the maxi taxi hustlers but filthy rich men working for officials within the licensing offices who are prepared to deliver any service for the right price.
- Some insurance agents granting insurance certificates to vehicles without ever seeing the rides, selling the "rights" of crashed vehicles to dishonest people with a foreign used vehicle or shell too old to lawfully license.
Some insurance agents themselves earning a second salary running auto garages where the swaps are done.
- Some police officers, paid a stipend for turning a blind eye to the con, choosing not to annoy a beast now so big that senior Ministry of Works and Transport officials, and some of the richest people accept it as normal business practice.
- Certain driving instructors - many times freelancing as a tout, or as a middle men between tout and customer.
The criminal enterprise is half a century old.
But there is a new attempt to destroy it. It began last Monday simultaneous raids at 3 a.m., at Licensing Offices in Port of Spain and San Fernando.
Police took documents related to cars stolen and re-registered by unscrupulous people.
The investigation is being led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Raymond Craig, a man who once was in charge of the Organised Crime and Narcotic Unit and now is in charge of traffic matters.
As of Friday, police had impounded more than 100 vehicles and detained 20 people, among them auto dealers and a police officer who owned a car believed stolen.
But it's not the first time police have tried.
He said that in 1987, then-Attorney General Selwyn Richardson worked with senior police officers to snare several Licensing Office workers involved in re-registering stolen Toyota Royal Saloon - the luxury cars of the time.
Every accused won their cases in court.
The new investigators, who include men from the Anti-Corruption Bureau operating within the Office of the Attorney General, will soon learn how big is their challenge.
How the racket operates
Possibly the most corrupt piece of real estate in Trinidad is within the compound of the San Fernando Licensing Department.
There is no escaping the touts - men who knock on your window as you drive in, each one with pen and book, application and registration forms, and cell phone of speed dial, ready to do your business.
Many of these men are former employees with detailed knowledge of the system. At least one was fired for fraud. Others work with other government departments but moonlight in the car park, where they can make as much as $3000 a day.
If you refuse these men and say you want to deal with the legitimate workers, prepare to be insulted, and to suffer.
Business that would have taken you half an hour through the tout, may take a day or more.
There are touts employed with new and foreign-used dealers, rental companies, trucking companies, with money to ease the passage of licensing the vehicles.
There are some touts so big in the business that they have a stable of juniors who work for them.
And as many in the auto industry know, you can have a stolen car made new again with a new owners name, get an inspection sticker for T vehicle without it ever having passed "the pit" for a thorough inspection.
You want to build your own vehicle out of new, stolen or used parts?
No problem. You want to sell a car taken from a man shot in the head and left to rot along a forest road? There are garages with the tool to remove and replace the car's firewall - the metal which separates the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. The firewall contains the chassis numbers which is the official identification record contained in a certified copy, which identifies the owner.
In T vehicles, the chassis number is stamped somewhere along the frame of the vehicle. That too can be erased, and re-stamped at auto repair garages.
A foreign used vehicle too old to be registered? Small thing.
Trucks costing too much to register. Bribes will reduce the figure.
Reassembled a knocked down vehicle and need it registered despite the 2003 ban? Its part of the service offered.
Sometimes the corruption slows to a trickle because an incorruptible licensing official has temporarily taken charge.
That person is despised, and the touts wait with anticipation for his departure so business can resume.
And for those who need a driving permit, there is a bobol for you too.
Some driving instructors let you know straight up your choices. Go through the driving lessons, or get a "sure pass", for a fee, on the day of the driving test that is really just a farce.
If you choose to not pay, be prepared to be failed.
You can pay to have the test date brought forward.
If you can't read or write, the regulations examination can be done by someone pretending to be you. Or you can get the multiple choice examination paper with the answers already filled in.
But you need not even go to the Licensing Office for a driving permit anymore. There are agents working around the country, to whom you supply a passport sized photo, signature and the money and come back another day to collect your license. It is authentic in every way because it was done at the Transport Division, and made an official record within a few weeks. You can also pay for a Heavy T license which gives you the right to drive a 26-wheeler.
It will cost you between $2000 and $5000.
