A Hialeah state tag agency has suddenly become the backdrop for a widening title-fraud scandal, with at least two employees under arrest and others still unaccounted for, authorities said. Marvin Codio and Belkis Escobar Navarro were taken into custody and face counts that include official misconduct, providing false information and vehicle forgery. Investigators say the probe points to a broader network and that most of the alleged participants remain at large.
What investigators say
As reported by WSVN, detectives identified Codio and Escobar Navarro as employees at the Hialeah auto tag office and said they were arrested Thursday. According to that outlet, the pair are charged with official misconduct, providing false information and vehicle forgery, and investigators believe nine people were involved in the operation.
Probe at a Hialeah office
Another local outlet, Univision, reported that investigators executed a search warrant at a tag office at 1550 W. 84th Street, where they seized surveillance video and paperwork. That report named five people who were arrested in the investigation: Jesús Campos, Ronaldo Morales Maldonado, Jorge Jamieson, Naomis Marquez and Escobar Navarro. Authorities, however, are still searching for most of the alleged co-conspirators.
Not an isolated problem
Title-fraud schemes tied to tag agencies have drawn serious attention in Miami-Dade before. Local10 documented a May 2024 case in which a tag-agency clerk was accused in a multi-million-dollar title-fraud scheme that allegedly relied on forged VINs and falsified paperwork. Prosecutors in that investigation warned that these types of crimes can badly damage victims, complicate the recovery of stolen vehicles and drive up insurance costs for everyone else.
Legal implications and next steps
Per WSVN, Codio and Escobar Navarro remain in custody while detectives continue to hunt for additional suspects and build their case. Under Florida law, altering or forging a vehicle certificate of title is a third-degree felony, and related forgery offenses carry similar felony exposure, according to the state code (Fla. Stat. §319.33). Prosecutors will decide whether to file formal indictments as the investigation moves forward, and Miami-Dade authorities have not yet released the full charging documents.
