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2 Arrested In CA Driver's License Scheme

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two men have been arrested in what authorities describe as an elaborate scheme to help illegal immigrants from Korea and China obtain California driver's licenses using doctored Canadian passports.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Dae Wahn Ahn, 49, and Chong Hwan Kim, 47, were arrested Wednesday and charged with manufacturing false documents, using false documents to conceal citizenship, perjury, forgery, conspiracy and false personation.

Immigration authorities say the men charged more than 200 illegal immigrants between $3,500 and $5,000 to help them obtain driver's licenses in Kern County.

Authorities began investigating in January 2010 after a Department of Motor Vehicles employee reported irregularities in a Canadian passport where new biographic pages had been inserted and the photograph replaced.

Ahn and Kim face arraignment Friday in state court in Bakersfield.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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