BMV gives fired workers access to your auto records

At least three employees were fired from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles only to be given renewed access to Hoosiers’ confidential auto records in new jobs at private BMV contractor Express MVA.

Two of those employees were fired for being dishonest during an internal BMV fraud and security investigation, while the other was terminated for poor performance that “opened the door for fraudulent title transactions,” according to personnel records obtained by The Star.

Yet the BMV gave permission for all three to access the agency’s highly guarded computer system when they went to work for Express MVA, which operates a private license branch on the city’s Southeastside. That computer system is used to process transactions and contains private information about drivers licenses, vehicle titles, license plates and registrations.

BMV audits later found numerous problems at Express MVA, including missing temporary tags, incomplete documentation and other irregularities. The Star found that at least some of those problems can be traced back to one of the employees who was fired from the BMV.

Express MVA’s top executive defended the company’s decision to hire employees who had been fired from the BMV. CEO Kevin Calvert said the company needs employees with expertise and the BMV is one of the few places they can get it. He also noted that employees must pass a criminal background check to gain access to the BMV database.

BMV officials couldn’t say why the employees were granted such access to the agency’s computer system, or who granted it. Those decisions were made under previous BMV leadership, said BMV spokesman Josh Gillespie.

But the agency is taking steps to address the issue. BMV Commissioner Kent Abernathy has asked for a review of former BMV employees who have access to the agency’s computer system, Gillespie said.

It’s the latest reaction to concerns about a revolving door between the BMV and Express MVA. Just last week the company fired two top executives — also former BMV officials — amid a state ethics investigation into whether they violated a law designed to prevent state employees from using their office to help a future employer at the expense of the public.

And Gov. Mike Pence announced last month that he would not renew the company’s contract in October. The investigation and contract cancellation came in response to The Star’s ongoing investigation of the BMV.

The newest revelations raise serious concerns about how closely the BMV monitors who has access to sensitive information, according to government accountability experts.

“The BMV has knowledge that these particular individuals have acted improperly,” said Trevor Brown, director of the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. “That’s the best kind of evidence you can have that they might engage in that kind of behavior in the future.”

Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana, put it this way: “If they aren’t trustworthy to work at the BMV, why would you assume they would be trustworthy working for the private contractor? It raises a tremendous security concern because we entrust the BMV with a tremendous amount of private information.”

Need for employees

When a relatively new Express MVA landed a BMV contract in October 2010, it quickly needed employees with expertise in title processing.

One of its early hires was Brad Hoffman, a former BMV former title director. But Hoffman had a past.

Citing an open records law exception for employee disciplinary files, the BMV and State Personnel Department would provide The Star only with a vague description of the reasons for his departure, saying he was terminated in June 2010 for “poor performance of essential job functions.”

But more detailed personnel records provided by Hoffman say he failed to process 15,000 salvage titles or address more than 500 discrepancies noted in a duplicate VIN report, among other problems. The records say Hoffman’s poor performance caused problems for customers and “opened the door for fraudulent title transactions to occur.”

In his response to those accusations, Hoffman said he was transparent with his supervisors about the backlogs and was working to reduce them.

Seven months later, Hoffman landed at Express MVA, a relatively new BMV contractor specializing in title processing for auto dealers. Under its contract with the state, the company received several BMV-issued work stations that gave it similar access to the agency’s computer system as a BMV license branch.

Even Hoffman was surprised when the BMV approved him for access. After all, the agency had just fired him for failing to properly process transactions. Now, he would be supervising many of those same transactions.

“I had branch manager access even though the BMV terminated me,” he said. “I thought it was weird they were still giving me all this access to do this job. I thought, maybe they are OK with me, they just didn’t want me to work there.”

He said he believes then-BMV Chief of Staff Shawn Walters gave permission to Express MVA to allow him to work there, but he wasn’t sure who signed off on his access to the BMV’s computer system.

As The Star previously reported, Walters helped negotiate the state’s contracts with Express MVA and later accepted a newly created executive position at the company without getting permission from the state ethics commission.

He is now at the center of the state ethics investigation.

Walters and Express MVA have said he did not oversee the company’s Indiana operations. Walters has not responded to multiple interview requests from The Star.

Hoffman only worked at Express MVA for 11 months. But in that short time, problems arose once again.

A BMV audit in September 2011 found that 21 temporary license plates were missing from Express MVA’s inventory. Auditors also found that 81 license plates were issued but not entered in the BMV’s computer system.

Hoffman acknowledged to The Star that he had issued the temporary plates to a used car dealer over Labor Day weekend, because the dealership couldn’t get what it needed from the Secretary of State’s office over the holiday weekend.

“We were going to issue a temporary plate anyway,” he said. “They were a new customer, nothing said it couldn’t be done, and I knew where all the plates were kept.”

The auditors saw things differently. They said that decision violated the expectations of the BMV’s agreement with Express MVA.

Still, Hoffman retained his STARS access until he voluntarily left Express MVA in November 2011.

Haven for fired workers

Hoffman wasn’t the only fired BMV employee who found haven at Express MVA.

Tammy Boswell, a supervisor of BMV dealer fleet services, and Chelsea Vermillion, a BMV license branch team leader, became the subjects of a BMV Fraud and Security Enforcement Division investigation in 2010.

The two women say the investigation involved a hotel party at the Downtown Hilton to celebrate Boswell’s promotion to the BMV’s central office. They said branch employees pitched in for the room, and they aren’t sure who actually paid for it.

But there was a problem: A frequent BMV customer provided the hotel room at a discounted price, the women said, raising concerns about whether the party violated a state ban on state employees accepting gifts.

It wasn’t the first time Boswell had taken advantage of the relationship. The same BMV customer had gotten her a discounted Hilton hotel room for her daughter’s birthday party.

Boswell said she didn’t think anything of it. She said she never provided the customer with any favors or special treatment in return. And she said she told BMV investigators everything.

The State Personnel Department said there was nothing on file indicating the basis for Boswell’s and Vermillion’s termination. And the BMV has not yet released the results of the fraud and security enforcement investigation.

But a termination notice provided to The Star by Boswell says: “It has been determined that you were dishonest during the course of an investigation conducted by BMV Fraud and Security Enforcement. Due to the seriousness of this violation, you are terminated from BMVC, effective immediately.”

Vermillion said she was given the same reason for her dismissal.

Both later got jobs as title processors at Express MVA, where they earned incentive pay of 10 cents per title in addition to their salaries. Boswell has since been promoted to operations manager.

As with Hoffman, the BMV cleared them for access to the agency’s database. And once again, problems arose.

A 2012 audit indicates that some transactions were processed without all of the necessary documentation, excise tax refunds for customers who sold their vehicles were not processed as required by the next business day and 143 overrides were approved by the same person processing the transaction.

The audit does not attribute those irregularities to specific employees. Boswell and Vermillion said they were unsure if they were responsible for any of the transactions flagged in the audit. Both remain employed at Express MVA and continue to have access to the BMV’s computer system.

Quest for expertise

Calvert, the CEO at Express MVA, said the employees brought important BMV expertise to his company.

He said he knew that Hoffman had been dismissed, but was unaware of the details. As for Boswell and Vermillion, he called them “excellent employees.”

“Tammy came in as processor at $12 an hour. She is a single mother with three kids who will outwork anyone here. She is a phenomenal employee,” he said.

As for the security and fraud investigation that led to their dismissal?

“I think if people are concerned because they stayed at a hotel and received a discount for that, that’s not a huge concern of mine,” he said.

In the end, he said, it comes down to this: “Anyone that would have access, that would come from the BMV granting that access.”

Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.

Stories in this series

This story is part of The Indianapolis Star’s ongoing investigation of the BMV, which has acknowledged overcharging Hoosier motorists at $60 million in taxes and fees.

July 26: BMV official pushed fee, then took job with company that benefited A top BMV official encouraged the use of a fee whose legality has been questioned – and now he works for a BMV contractor that benefited from the fee.

May 24: Did patronage lead to BMV overcharges? The qualifications of several top BMV officials raise serious questions about whether expertise or political connections were more important at the troubled agency.

March 22: BMV ignored overcharges Top officials at the BMV knew for years they were likely gouging Hoosier motorists with tens of millions of dollars in excessive fees, but those officials chose to ignore or cover up the overcharges rather than refund the extra money and adjust to significant budget losses.