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Former tax collector employee accused of issuing bogus driver's licenses

A worker at the Orange County Tax Collector's Office is accused of issuing bogus licenses, authorities said.
Investigators said they've uncovered at least two cases at the office on Lee Vista Boulevard.
Officials said the investigation started on the Central Florida toll roads when state troopers nabbed a man suspected of passing counterfeit cash at toll booths.
Authorities said the man was carrying a real Florida driver's license with fraudulent information and was suspected of drug crimes in Pennsylvania.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Driver Joel Martinez said it is concerning.

"It's just a big issue. You don't know who is who," Martinez said.

State investigators started looking into it further and found Gabriela Gutierrez issued the license in 2014.

Gutierrez worked for the Orange County Tax Collector's Office.

Investigators said they looked back six months and found she issued at least one other fraudulent driver's license without scanning in any of the required documents from the applicant.

"That's in clear violation of the procedures we have in place at the Tax Collector's Office," Eddie Ayala, spokesman for the Orange County Tax Collector's Office said.

Gutierrez was fired.

No one answered at her Poinciana home when Channel 9 knocked on her door.

The Tax Collector's Office said it has been working with state troopers for the past couple of months.

"Obviously it wasn't for nothing. You know, they were getting paid to do this illegally," Martinez said.

The Tax Collector's Office said it cannot comment on whether other employees could be involved.

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