A Vancouver man who had previously failed seven road tests has been convicted of trying to bribe an ICBC driving examiner.
Kim Hen Huynh was fined $1,000 for attempting to bribe the examiner at the Burnaby ICBC Drivers Services Centre. He had just found out he failed again in his eighth attempt at gaining his licence and pulled out four $100 bills.
"Happy birthday! Can you help me?" Huynh said, handing his examiner the money, according to evidence provided in court. The examiner immediately reported the incident to his supervisor.
Huynh pleaded guilty to bribery but asked for conditional sentencing, which the judge flatly refused.
Judges usually grant a conditional sentence if they are satisfied that the guilty person won't be a danger to their community.
"With its decision, the court is sending a clear signal that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated, and that this is a serious offence," said Steven Tripp, ICBC's manager for fraud prevention.
ICBC spokesperson Adam Grossman says instances of bribery are rare, and there should be no good reason to resort to bribing an instructor.
"If someone's failing their road test eight times, there is probably a good chance that they're not doing their homework beforehand," said Grossman.
Last year, a Richmond driving instructor was convicted of fraud for rigging driver's tests at a charge of up to $8,000 per licence, of which he paid an ICBC driving examiner about $500.
