Witness says a driver's licence tester asked for bribe after failed test

Monday, 26 November 2018

Daryl Govender and Mohammed Feroz are charged with taking bribes in exchange for drivers' licences and are on trial at the Manukau District Court.

A witness says one of the driver testing officers accused of taking bribes in exchange for licences asked him for money after failing his restricted licence.

Mohammed Feroz has denied 73 charges of obtaining by deception and Daryl Pregasen Govender has denied 17 charges.

The Crown says they were part of a group taking hundreds of dollars in bribes in exchange for issuing licences and in some cases people who paid bribes didn't even turn up to the test.

Geary Sutjahjo told the Manukau District Court on Monday that he sat his restricted licence with Mohammed Feroz in 2013 but failed the test.

He said he headed back to the AA branch and said he had a confusing talk to Feroz in the car.

'From there, it seemed like he wanted me to pay.'

Sutjahjo said he asked Feroz if he could do a wire transfer of between $100 and $150.

'But he said cash would be the best.'

He said he thought Feroz wanted to re-test him there and then.

'It got really confusing … it was … 'instead of sitting your test again, I'd sort it out for you'.'

Sutjahjo said at the time he wasn't clear about what Feroz was asking of him but it was clear after talking to his mother about the exchange.

'I talked to my mum about it and she said: 'It sounds a bit fishy' and I thought about it and I said: 'Yeah, it sounds a bit dodgy'.'

Sutjahjo said he didn't hand any money over to Feroz and instead returned to the office and re-booked the test.

Under cross-examination from Feroz's lawyer, Isaac Koya, Sutjahjo confirmed his mother had made a formal complaint to the New Zealand Transport Authority about Feroz's approach.

Sutjahjo said he met two authority investigators at a Denny's restaurant but was unaware of the outcome.

He confirmed he could not recall the exact words that Feroz used but said he was clear about what Feroz meant.

The Crown's case is that the bribes were typically $350 but more money was demanded if the applicant didn't want to turn up to the test or they wanted a heavy vehicle licence.

Most applicants had failed at least once but in some cases the applicants had failed five times.

Often the applicants lived a long way from the AA Meadowlands branch and would sit their tests early, to increase their chances of getting a corrupt testing officer.

The trial, before Judge Mina Wharepouri, is in its second week.