The Connecticut Division of Motor Automobiles has fired a longtime worker practically 5 years after investigators discovered he used his place to garner steep reductions on automobiles he purchased from a towing firm, based on a termination letter obtained final week.
The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica reported in March on the accusations in opposition to Dominik Stefanski and the DMV’s failure to take motion in opposition to him or the towing firm. The story was half of a bigger collection about how Connecticut’s towing legal guidelines have come to favor tow truck corporations over car house owners and the way the DMV’s lack of oversight has allowed abuses within the system. The DMV investigated Stefanski for over a yr starting in 2020 however didn’t hearth him till early November, months after the information organizations’ story.
In response to the 2020-21 DMV investigation, when workers of D&L Auto Physique & Towing in Berlin, Connecticut, went to the principle DMV workplace in close by Wethersfield, they might make eye contact with Stefanski, who would then enable them to chop the slow-moving DMV strains. In alternate for this favor, the report stated, D&L workers would enable Stefanski to pick out autos that had been towed by the corporate weeks or months earlier than. D&L would then undervalue the automobiles on DMV varieties, investigators stated, permitting Stefanski to purchase them cheaply and resell them for a revenue.
In complete, DMV investigators discovered that from 2015 to 2019, D&L bought 15 autos to an funding agency owned by Stefanski, who had labored for the company since 1999 and was then a doc examiner within the DMV’s primary workplace. In a single case, Stefanski purchased a Cadillac for $1,000 and bought it for $17,500. The automotive was ultimately bought by one other firm for $23,250.
In 2020, DMV investigators beneficial that Stefanski be criminally charged for the scheme they alleged made him hundreds of {dollars}, they usually accomplished an arrest warrant. A prosecutor determined to not file prices, nevertheless, citing “prosecutorial discretion” and “inadequate proof to satisfy the burden of proof past an inexpensive doubt.” The prosecutor advised the DMV might deal with the matter internally.
However the DMV didn’t self-discipline Stefanski or situation fines in opposition to D&L within the years after the investigation. The company declined to touch upon the firing and declined to reply particular questions in regards to the investigation.
Stefanski was positioned on paid administrative depart in March, two enterprise days after the story was revealed. He earned simply over $72,000 yearly. The Nov. 6 termination letter notes that he was fired for misconduct “while you used your place for monetary achieve.”
Stefanski stated he has appealed and anticipates having a listening to subsequent month. In an interview with reporters earlier this yr, Stefanski maintained that he hadn’t executed something improper.
Reached by telephone final week, Stefanski stated that after the information organizations revealed the article, he had a listening to wherein he introduced proof, together with a test he acquired as a mortgage to purchase one of many autos. He stated the test proves he paid extra for the car than the warrant indicated.
The state rejected Stefanski’s argument.
“The company didn’t discover that the data introduced supplied any foundation to mitigate the contemplated penalty of dismissal,” the termination letter stated.
A D&L official declined to touch upon the firing however stated beforehand in a press release that the supervisor working with Stefanski was fired and that the corporate is working with the DMV “to make sure that any such scenario doesn’t occur once more.”
“The corporate’s supervisor on the time acted on his personal and thought he was doing the suitable factor by promoting in-operable automobiles,” the assertion stated. In response to investigators, most of the automobiles had been in good situation.
Stefanski stated his union helps him with the enchantment, however he declined to provide particulars till it’s over.
Logan Williams, a consultant of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers Council 4, which represents DMV staff, stated the union can’t touch upon the specifics of the case however that the rights of staff “derive their power from the integrity of due course of.”
“Each Union exists to defend this course of and our members’ rights,” Williams stated in a press release. “At any time when self-discipline is handed down within the office, our union has an obligation to make sure that the method is adopted and that our members have entry to due course of.”
Stefanski stated nobody on the DMV indicated why he was being fired near seven years after the incidents and 5 years after DMV investigators realized what was taking place.
“They didn’t give me a proof. They really didn’t give me nothing,” Stefanski stated.
