Registry of Motor Vehicles Clerk Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to Jail for Accepting Bribes to Alter Driver's Licenses and Produce New Identities

WOBURN - A former clerk of both the Watertown and Framingham branches of the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) has pled guilty in connection with operating a scheme by which he fraudulently changed information on valid Massachusetts licenses and sold them to other individuals for a fee. Ahmed Siddiqui, age 31, of Framingham, pled guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to charges of Falsification of an Operator's License (10 counts), Attempted Falsification of an Operator's License, Identity Theft, and Bribery of a Public Official. After the plea was entered, Superior Court Judge Thomas P. Billings sentenced Siddiqui to two and a half years in the House of Correction, six months to serve, with the balance suspended for a probationary period of three years.

In November 2009, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office began an investigation after Siddiqui's activities were discovered and reported by the Massachusetts State Police Compliance Unit and RMV Auditors. Siddiqui worked as a clerk at the Watertown and Framingham branches of the RMV. While working at these branches, Siddiqui would perform fraudulent license transactions for a fee. Investigators discovered that Siddiqui would change the photo, and other identifying information, of an unknowing person's valid Massachusetts driver's license to the photo and address of his paying "customer." The person at the window was given a valid Massachusetts Driver's License in the new name. Siddiqui created at least ten fraudulent driver's licenses.

On January 14, 2010, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office arrested Siddiqui at the RMV branch in Watertown. Following his arrest, Siddiqui was transported to Framingham District Court where he was arraigned, pled not guilty and was subsequently released on bail.

On February 18, 2010, a Middlesex Grand Jury returned indictments against Siddiqui. He was arraigned on February 26, 2010, in Middlesex Superior Court where he entered a plea of not guilty . Today, Siddiqui pled guilty to all charges and was sentenced.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Marc Jones and Marina Moriarty, of Attorney General Martha Coakley's Corruption and Fraud Division, and was investigated by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office. The Massachusetts State Police Compliance Unit and the Registry of Motor Vehicles Auditors uncovered the scheme and also assisted with the investigation.

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