RMV employee accepted cash payments to expedite service, bypass requirements

A former Registry of Motor Vehicles employee has been charged with running a scheme in which she accepted bribes in exchange for expedited services. 

Ashlee Jordan, 29, of Bridgewater, a former RMV title clerk at the Quincy headquarters, was charged with one count of bribery, one count of unwarranted privilege, and one count of conspiracy to commit title fraud, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said in a release. 

Stanley Nazaire, 47, of Somerville, was also charged for his alleged involvement in the bribery scheme, with one count of bribery and one count of solicitation to commit bribery.

According to the AGO’s investigation, Jordan allegedly misused her position to operate an unauthorized, private title and registration service, providing preferential treatment to customers for a fee. Jordan’s income from the bribery scheme allegedly exceeded her income as a salaried RMV employee, the AGO said.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said processing times at the Quincy RMV increased, which Jordan, who began working there in 2019, took advantage of. 

“The AGO alleges that Jordan exploited these delays and misused her position to operate what essentially amounted to a private concierge title and registration service, taking personal payments to complete customers’ RMV transactions at a speed that was not available to ordinary citizens,” the AGO said. 

For a fee, Jordan would allow customers to jump the line and have transactions processed overnight, officials said. She also allegedly accepted improper paperwork and would allow customers to skip key steps, including a required salvage inspection needed prior to receiving a reconstructed title. 

The AGO investigation found that Jordan promoted her services at a car enthusiast’s social club while openly wearing her RMV lanyard. Officials said Nazaire acted as a middleman in the scheme, approaching towing companies to promote Jordan’s services and “personally soliciting” them to pay her for faster titles.

Nazaire also allegedly paid Jordan private bribes to complete his title transactions, the AGO said.

Both Nazaire and Jordan were arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday and released on personal recognizance, the AGO said.