The mastermind Xu Feng (41 years old), who is suspected of long-term involvement in assisting Chinese immigrants to obtain New York driver’s licenses illegally through the Flushing public driving school, T&E Driving School, was recently arrested at the “Chow King” Chinese restaurant in Albertville, Alabama by the joint efforts of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE. This case is a major cross-state fraud case, currently being investigated by federal agencies and the New York City prosecutor’s office.
The investigation revealed that the public driving school in Flushing, Queens, New York, posted advertisements targeting Chinese people on social media, actively soliciting customers who do not speak English or are undocumented immigrants, claiming to guarantee the acquisition of a legitimate driver’s license. Upon arrival, the school falsified exam identities for customers or bribed New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) examiners, skipping written and road test procedures to directly obtain official licenses. The school is suspected of charging each customer between $1,600 and $2,000.
This case may involve hundreds or even thousands of illegal driver’s licenses, leading to many individuals without basic driving skills taking to the roads, posing potential public safety risks.
The case is being handled jointly by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, State Inspector General’s Office, New York City Police Department, DMV, and Homeland Security Investigations, resulting in the arrest of multiple individuals and prosecution of the driving school operators and three DMV examiners.
According to multiple English reports, federal investigators, acting on a tip, went to the “Chow King” Chinese restaurant in Albertville on the 18th to arrest Xu Feng. During the arrest, 6 restaurant employees suspected of being illegal immigrants were also apprehended. Xu Feng is currently detained at Marshall County Jail without bail, awaiting extradition to New York for trial.
On July 1, the New York State prosecutors indicted a total of 14 defendants, including the owner of the public driving school, Weixian Tan, secretary Weiwen Tan, employee Winnie Yang, and test-taker Wenfeng Yang. The implicated DMV examiners, Edward Queen, Aji Idicula, and Tianna Rose Andolina, are all charged with multiple offenses including document forgery, record tampering, identity theft, and aiding in the illegal issuance of driver’s licenses.