MANILA — The Land Transportation Office assured the public it can identify fake or unauthorized license plates after three of its employees were caught stealing plates to sell.

The 3 LTO employees were arrested last Friday after they were caught stealing license plates from the plant in Quezon City where they are made.

Authorities linked the suspects to a scheme involving illegal vehicle sales.

"Mayroon nang may-ari nito, years ago. Mayroong nagsusulsol at nagbibigay ng anong number ang dapat gawin. So itong mga plaka, if hindi ito kasama sa system na 'to, siningit nila sa pagpapagawa," LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said on TeleRadyo Serbisyo on Saturday.

"Kung titingnan natin ang plakang ito may security requirements na would require electronic scan. Pag in-electronic scan natin, hindi lalabas yung security features sa plaka," he said..

"On its face, mukhang tama siya. Pero pag siniyasat mo doon malalaman na peke siya," he added.

THESCHEME

In the modus, Mendoza said, leader or a financier who will acquire a vehicle through financing will illegally sell the vehicle using duplicated plates and fake LTO Official Receipts or Certificates of Registration (OR/CR) documents.

The plate numbers are computer-generated, and plates have a QR code that must be scanned to activate the plate, before embossing it and sending it to another part of the plant to prepare it for distribution.

Afterwards, another team will do a quality check on the plates.

"At the end of the day may nagka-quality check. Lahat ng plakang pinoproduce [dapat] in confirmity bago i-pack sa kahon," Mendoza said.

Authorities first caught wind of the license plate theft after they noticed that the suspects had been setting aside car plates. — AC Coloma, ABS-CBN News