A struggling college student who set himself up as a £300-a-time 'exam cheat for hire' so he could illegally sit driving theory tests on behalf of learner drivers has been jailed.
Olivier Yolo, 27, agreed to fraudulently take theory tests for cash at a series of DVSA centres across the the north of England, including in Bolton and Stockport, for learners who were due to take them feared they would fail.
The engineering undergraduate masqueraded as provisionally licenced motorists in six separate theory tests after being put in touch with them through his local barber, but was arrested when staff became suspicious when he tried to take a seventh test at the Stockport centre in August 2022.
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Yolo, who had passed his driving test just 12 months before the scam, had also tried to sit theory tests at Preston, Scarborough, Sheffield and Chester. A court heard the father-to-be had been struggling financially due to the cost of living crisis and the ruse seemed like 'easy money'.
It is thought he successfully passed three of the exams but was turned away at the others.
At Chester Crown Court, father-to-be Yolo, of Lathbury Road, Monsall, pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud by false representation. He was jailed for 24 weeks on May 30.
Miss Zarreem Alan-Cheetham, prosecuting, said: “On the 18 September of last year information was received from the Reed Partnership Theory Test Centre in Stockport that an impersonation had taken place for a theory test in the name of Phillipe Kasende.
“The defendant was arrested by Greater Manchester Police at the test centre after completing the driving theory test and the matter was also reported to fraud investigators at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. He was asked about his involvement in the offences at Stockport and six other theory test centres in the north of England.
“During the interview, he admitted his involvement in each of the offences. He also said that he had done more than that, that the DVSA were not actually aware of. The defendant said he received the drivers' licences from a barbershop in his local community and that he was paid about £300 for each test Greater Manchester Police then handed the investigation over to the DVSA.
”The prosecution submits that this falls into a high culpability due to it being a fraud activity over a sustained period of time and the sophisticated nature of the offences and the significant planning.''
Miss Alam-Cheetham read out the details of each of the attempted impersonation. They related to attempts to take the test at centres in November and December of 2021 at Chester, Sheffield and Preston and in January, February, July and August of last year, twice at Bolton, and also at Scarborough and Stockport.
In mitigation, Adam Antoszkiw said: ''This is somebody who has been terribly candid throughout. He has made very full and frank admissions, perhaps admitting to even more than what appears on the charge sheet and is someone who is genuinely remorseful.
“At the time he was struggling with the cost of living, struggling with his personal finances. He readily accepts that he received £300 for all those theory tests but it has not brought about a luxurious lifestyle. He has given up his rented accommodation and has moved back in with his parents which has reduced that strain on his finances.
“He has set up a fledgling business but there are modest returns at the moment. Jail would be a significant impact on others, namely his partner and his unborn child whose birth is due in July. A suspended sentence would allow him to welcome a baby into the world with his partner and let him carry on with his fledgling business.''
Sentencing Yolo to 24 weeks in prison, Judge Mr Recorder Peter Horgan said: “These offences did not take place on the spur of the moment but over the course of nine months at six locations across the country.
''The seriousness of your offending is the impact on the public confidence in the system. If those drivers you impersonated went on to pass the practical stage of the driving test, they would be given a licence to drive on the road creating an obvious danger to the public and the public deserves to have confidence in the system we have in place.''
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