Charges create licence headache

Land Transport New Zealand may have to scrutinise hundreds, if not thousands, of driving licences issued on the word of a tester arrested over an alleged scam in Auckland's Asian community.

Peter William Hjorring, 56, of Glen Eden, appeared in the Waitakere District Court on Thursday charged with dishonestly using a document for financial gain between August 1 and this week.

The former traffic officer and policeman, who did not enter a plea and was remanded on bail until April 7, has been stood down from the Westgate licensing centre.

Although based at the AA Express centre, he is employed by private firm NZ Driver Licensing (1998), which runs all practical road tests nationwide for Land Transport NZ.

Hjorring was arrested just a day after Land Transport called in police to help with an inquiry it says it began weeks ago into claims that Asians could buy licences without having to sit practical tests.

TV3 screened footage this week of a woman paying a Chinese driving instructor $400 for a licence, after the man allegedly said he had a friend who was a testing officer.

The woman said she knew of people who had obtained licences from other Auckland centres without sitting tests.

The Chinese instructor has not been found. Land Transport will check other temporary licences issued by Hjorring for tests conducted after-hours or when AA office staff were too busy to complete their own paperwork.

Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven said the agency would work out a "profile" of suspect cases by methods which he did not want to disclose.