WNY State Senator calls for hearing on license plate fraud

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Western New York State Senator, along with a Watertown State Assemblyman, sent a letter to the chairs of the Senate and Assembly Transportation Committee calling for a state hearing on the rise of license plate fraud across the state.

State Senator George Borrello, who represents much of the Southern Tier, and Assemblyman Scott Gray of Watertown sent the letter to Senator Jeremy Cooney and Assemblymember William Magnarelli earlier this week.

The letter comes on the heels of news that inmates under the supervision of the county sheriff's office in Chautauqua County will no longer handle license plates that were surrendered in the area.

WIVB News 4 has reported on several instances of Western New Yorkers, particularly in the Jamestown area, having their surrendered license plate numbers pop up in other area of the state, resulting in thousands of dollars in incorrect fines. The plates are most often seen popping up in New York City.

"Despite repeated inquiries, the Department of Motor Vehicles has been unable to provide a clear explanation for how license plate numbers that should be out of circulation are ending up back on vehicles," the letter, dated Oct. 27, reads. "DMV officials have said their systems mark the plates as inactive, yet the evidence strongly suggests that serious gaps exist in the chain of custody, recordkeeping, or data integrity related to surrendered plates."

In one case, a couple from Jamestown accumulated over $10,000 in fraudulent fines after turning over their plates to the DMV in March 2024. Another resident has faced "criminal suspicion" related to a downstate offense committed by someone else using a plate number that should have been taken out of circulation.

Last month, Borrello introduced legislation in the State Senate that would increase the penalty of license plate fraud to a felony.

"This is not an isolated issue; it's a statewide failure that is putting innocent people through financial and legal hell," Borrello said in a news release Thursday. "After being scammed by criminals, these innocent New Yorkers have been victimized all over again by a bureaucracy that seems unwilling or unable to stop it. We owe it to them to get answers and demand accountability."