Investigations

On May 3, 2017, Calvin Foulks and Michele Reed, former employees of the Detroit Department of Transportation, were sentenced in Michigan State Court to 1 year of probation. Foulks was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution, and Reed was ordered to pay $625 in restitution. On March 28, 2017, both had pleaded guilty to forgery and bribery for their roles in a commercial driver’s license (CDL) fraud scheme.

 

In February 2017, Foulks and Reed self-surrendered after the State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office issued arrest warrants for them. They were arraigned on felony charges for taking more than $4,000 in cash bribes in return for falsifying multiple Michigan Department of State documents. The forged documents stated that applicants had taken and passed the CDL skills test when, in fact, they had not. As a result of this investigation and the State’s strong anti-fraud initiative, the Michigan Secretary of State invalidated 85 CDL tests. Affected drivers were required to retest before their CDL driving privileges could be restored.

 

DOT-OIG conducted this investigation with assistance from the Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Detroit Police Department-Internal Affairs, and the State of Michigan Attorney General’s Office.