Schoolboy licence faker made $12,000

Marcus Lim outside court yesterday, where he was sentenced to 400 hours' community service for selling driver's licences to students from at least 15 Auckland schools for $80-$100. Photo / Richard Robinson

Some teenagers earn pocket money flipping burgers at the local fast-food outlet but 16-year-old Marcus Lim had bigger ideas.

The Auckland Grammar pupil forged driver's licences for an unknown number of other students across Auckland between August and October last year, earning himself at least $12,000 - and a criminal conviction.

North Shore police became suspicious when they noticed an increasing number of teenagers using fake driver's licences to gain entry into local bars.

They discovered Lim was selling licences to students from 15 other Auckland secondary schools for $80-$100 depending on the class of licence.

Police analysed Lim's phone records and discovered he was selling the licences to anyone who made contact with him.

When officers obtained a search warrant for his central city apartment, they found a computer, scanner, laminator and other hardware that Lim, now 17, used to make the licences.

He was yesterday ordered to complete 400 hours' community work when he appeared for sentencing at the North Shore District Court. At an earlier court appearance he pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery.

Crown prosecutor Rebecca Savage said police estimated that Lim made about $12,000 from the forgeries after at least 150 licences were sold.

He would arrange to meet the buyer via text message, usually somewhere in Auckland city. The buyer would then give money and their real driver's licence to Lim, who would scan it and use the photo, and sometimes the details, to enter on to a licence template he had stored on his computer.

Mrs Savage said he would then create a signature before printing off the fake licence and laminating it.

Most of the licences just had a different date of birth to enable the buyer to pose as an 18-year-old. The exact number of licences Lim created is not known. When he was spoken to by police he said he had made "heaps".

According to his lawyer, William Spring, Cambodian-born Lim came to New Zealand as a refugee and was abandoned financially by his family.

The court was told he committed the forgeries to pay his expenses.

"The only victim who is going to come out of this is the defendant," Mr Spring said.

Lim was now studying at a tertiary institution and wanted to fund his education the right way.

Judge Lawrence Hinton said Lim was obviously talented but urged him to put his abilities towards legitimate enterprise.

He said the charges were serious and the scheme was "sophisticated", showing a high level of premeditation.

The teenager was told he could have been jailed for six months but was given a discount for his age, previous good record and his guilty plea, along with "full recognition of his personal circumstances".

Judge Hinton said Lim had also assisted police with their inquiries, for which he was also given credit.