Summary

On September 20, 2011, following a five-day trial, Irina Rakhman, was found guilty by a federal jury in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for conspiracy to produce identification documents without lawful authority.  Ms. Rakhman and ten co-conspirators were indicted on charges of making false statements, identification document fraud, and bank fraud for their role in a conspiracy that aided more than 400 unqualified individuals in obtaining false Pennsylvania commercial drivers' licenses. 

The conspirators operated as the International Training Academy which purported to be both a truck-driving school and a business which rented tractor-trailers for the FMCSA regulated CDL Skills Tests.  The conspirators bypassed FMCSA regulations by providing customers with false Pennsylvania residency documents used to satisfy Pennsylvania Department Transportation requirements and to open illicit banks accounts to facilitate the scheme.  The scheme also included giving the unqualified applicants the answers to the CDL Knowledge Test.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Ms. Rakhman and her co-conspirators provided non-residents of Pennsylvania with false residency documents in order to fraudulently obtain CDLs from 2006 to 2010.  They also provided foreign language interpreters who, under the guise of providing translations, gave CDL applicants the answers to the written CDL permit test.  The evidence at trial also established that Ms. Rakhman and others received payment for allowing their home addresses to be used by the applicants.  

This is a joint investigation with the FBI and assistance from FMCSA and the Pennsylvania State Police.