Reporter arrested for attempt to obtain false driver's license

FLORIDA– A reporter for the national trade publication Credit Union Times was arrested in early July after trying to obtain a fraudulent driver’s license as part of a story on document fraud.

Carole Burger, who was trying to find out how easy it was to get a false driver’s license, assumed the name of a dead woman she found in the obituaries. Burger obtained the woman’s social security number and a copy of her birth certificate from a New York hospital.

Burger went to the Margate driver’s license bureau and gave the information to a clerk. When the computer would not verify Burger’s information, the clerk called the police.

Police handcuffed and arrested Burger and charged her with obtaining a driver’s license by fraud, a charge punishable for up to five years in jail, according to Associated Press reports.

Burger was brought to the local Margate prison, but was then transferred to the Broward County jail where she was fingerprinted several times, photographed and strip searched, she said.

Her editor posted the $1,000 bail later that afternoon, but Burger remained in jail until 12:30 a.m. that night, she said.

Burger said her attorney is currently consulting with Broward County officials, who have 21 days to file any charges. The AP reported that police suspect the charges will be dismissed.

Burger said she will not continue with her story on fraud until the legal problems are cleared up. She noted that after news of her arrest became public, many people have telephoned to inform her of more successful methods of obtaining a false driver’s license.