A Transport for London worker and her brother who helped mini-cab drivers to cheat their way to a private hire licence are facing jail.
Cindy and Jordan Ughanze charged between £300 and £500 for inside information on the private hire vehicle licence (PHVL) test, after drivers had failed the exam on their own.
Cindy, 28, who worked in topographical assessment for TfL, passed on details of failed applicants to her brother, 25, who then offered them a way to pass the test for a fee.
“Applicants must show they have a working knowledge of the geography of London and the sealed test results are taken to TfL”, said prosecutor Shannon Revel.
“Cindy gave the details of the failed applicants to Jordan, who offered them a way to pass the test for a fee and he filled in the fresh examination papers and they would be swapped by his sister.”
Croydon crown court heard one minicab driver used the scam to pass a re-test with an 88 per cent score, more than double his original grade.
The siblings admitted conspiracy to defraud between February 2017 and May 2018, after investigators found evidence that at least 22 minicab drivers had been given help to pass the PHVL test.
Judge Deborah Charles said the fraud had been on the “Uber-equivalent of The Knowledge”, warning the Ughanzes they face possible prison terms when sentenced next month.
“Both defendants should bring overnight bags when they return to be sentenced, they must be prepared. All options remain open”, she said.
The court heard cheating drivers, whose details were found in a sports bag with test papers during a raid on the Ughanze’s New Addington home, have now been banned by TfL. Police were tipped off to the fraud by a failed driver who had been approached by the Ughanze’s.
Mother-of-one Cindy, who held a £32,000-a-year job with TfL, logged in to her work computer while off duty to carrying out her part of the fraud conspiracy, but blames her brother for instigating the scam.
She has a previous conviction for fraudulently evading parking tickets, the court heard.
Jordan, a father-of-one and assistant project manager for Network Rail, has convictions for robbery, battery and fraud and says his sister was the brains behind the TfL fraud.
They are due to return to court on April 29 for sentencing.
