Court Clerk Accused Of Fixing Tickets For Money
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minnesota District Court clerk is accused of fixing traffic citations in exchange for money.
Abdulkadir Mohamoud Afrah was charged with one count of bribery after investigators say he accepted $280 on Jan. 10 in exchange for dismissing a citation for no proof of car insurance. Afrah was arrested that afternoon.
Authorities say Afrah had been fixing tickets for people cited for no proof of insurance in March of 2010. Afrah's job entails reviewing and processing traffic citations at the Violations Bureau in the Hennepin County Government Center. As part of those duties, he handles no-proof-of-insurance citations from the public.
Investigators say Afrah has the authority to dismiss the ticket if the insurance company named on the card can confirm that the policy was in force at the time of the citation.
An investigation found that between 2008 and 2010, Afrah allegedly dismissed at least 19 no-proof-of-insurance citations when they should not have been dismissed. The 19 citations are valued at more than $5,000.
Afrah faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.