Indio DMV employee arrested, accused of falsifying records in scheme to evade smog checks
An Indio Department of Motor Vehicles employee has been arrested, accused of falsifying vehicles' registrations so they wouldn't require smog checks and leaking confidential DMV records to a business owner.
Martha Esther Espinoza, 55, is facing six felony charges. She was arrested by the DMV’s Office of Internal Affairs on Sept. 25, more than two years after it began its criminal investigation of her access and use of confidential driver and registration information. Reached by phone, Espinoza declined to comment for this story.
DMV investigators began looking into Espinoza’s work computer activity in February 2021, after the department’s Data Forensics Team found evidence of suspicious activity in its vehicle registration database, according to an arrest warrant later filed in Riverside County Superior Court.
The team said it found that Espinoza, who worked at the department’s office in Indio, had fraudulently processed about 90 smog certifications by changing a vehicle’s actual registered address in Riverside County to Imperial County. That meant the owners of the vehicles did not have to submit biennial smog checks, which are required in Riverside but not in Imperial.
Investigators say that after Espinoza manipulated the records, they found "many of these registered vehicles still present at their original address, located in Riverside County."
After seizing her personal cell phone, they found she had been communicating about the certifications and other DMV records with Ramon Chavez, owner of RC Vehicle Registration and Lien Sale in Indio — a certified DMV partner business.
"Also found was a 1,184 page text thread where Espinoza was found to be illegally accessing the DMV database (to) reference vehicle records at the request of Chavez," the warrant reads. "Espinoza did this without authorization and outside DMV’s normal business practices, violating policy and procedure. Espinoza was providing Chavez with sensitive, confidential and personally identifiable information (PII) from these vehicle records in the form of text message and digital photos of the DMV database screens showing the information."
Investigators interviewed Espinoza twice, during which she is said to have admitted sharing the database information with Chavez and falsifying the smog certifications at his direction.
Chavez said by phone that he knew Espinoza and other DMV employees because his company had done business with the Indio DMV office for years. He said he does not recall any communications he had with her about confidential information.
Asked about the smog certifications, he said people often claim they live in Imperial County to get around the requirement and that the state only recently was asking for people to provide some sort of proof they lived in a county with more lenient smog requirements.
"It's a giant loophole that people all over the state are taking advantage of," Chavez said by phone. "This whole time, people would just verbally say they live in Imperial county" and smog technicians would clear them, he added, saying the problem will continue unless the state changes requirements.
Chavez is not charged with any crime in relation to the case.
It remains unclear why Espinoza was not charged or arrested for more than two years after the DMV investigation began in early 2021. Brooke Beare, spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, said that DMV submitted the case for prosecution in July, about two months before charges were filed.
After the arrest warrant was filed in June 2023, Riverside County prosecutors filed charges Sept. 5 and Espinoza was arrested Sept. 25. She faces six counts of unauthorized access to computer data, a felony, and four misdemeanor counts of unauthorized disclosure of DMV records.
The DMV refused to answer questions about details of the investigation or say whether Espinoza was disciplined.
"As this is an ongoing investigation the DMV has no comment at this time," wrote Public Information Officer Chris Orrock, adding later when asked about Espinoza’s employment status: "The DMV does not comment on personnel matters."
The Desert Sun later filed a public records request and the DMV released documents that showed Espinoza had two stints as a DMV employee, one from 1998 to 2003, when she resigned, and another from 2011 to 2023. The records show she retired on Sept. 26, 2023, the day after she was arrested.
When The Desert Sun asked an attorney at the DMV why Espinoza was permitted to retire after their investigators recommended criminal charges be filed against her, they did not respond.
Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California DMV staffer arrested in alleged scheme to evade smog checks
