Feds: NYC driving school ran license scam

A New York City driving school used hidden cameras and beepers in an elaborate scam to help clients cheat on commercial driver's license tests, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged Thursday.

The N&Y Professional Service Line catered to Chinese speakers and included among more than 700 clients over the past two years a man who later overturned a discount-fare bus in Virginia, killing four last year, court papers said.

The owners of the school, Ying Wai Phillip Ng and his wife, Pui Kuen Ng of Brooklyn, both 47, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. They each face up to 20 years in prison.

"We must be able to trust that those who drive buses and trucks on our nation's highways meet stringent standards for safety and competency," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said. "Lives depend on it."

The written multiple-choice commercial driving test is given only in Spanish and English. Those who pass it get a permit, but must also pass a road test to get a full license.

Chinese speakers paid $1,800 to the Ngs, the charges said, and were given a beeper and a jacket with a hidden video camera sewed into the sleeve before entering the DMV. They were told to direct the camera at each question. Phillip Ng allegedly was able to view it on a TV feed in a minivan outside, and beeped the answers.

Prosecutors said Ng told an undercover officer that he had been using the scam for 10 years.

A lawyer for Phillip Ng questioned why prosecutors brought up the fatal Virginia bus crash.

"I'm not aware of any evidence that the driver involved in the Virginia accident cheated on his CDL application in any way," Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma said. "It's quite a stretch to try to blame these defendants for that accident."

Pui Kuen Ng was released and her husband was detained during a brief hearing in court Thursday. Neither defendant entered a plea.