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Driving School Shut Down By Dept. Of Revenue

DENVER (CBS4)- More than 1,000 people will have to retake their driving test after the Colorado Department Of Revenue shut down a driving school.

Department officials said the owner of Ola's Driving School, 6875 E. Colfax Ave., was suspended from administering driving tests on July 26.

"He was taking money from people and giving them certifications even though they never took the test," said Colorado Dept. of Revenue spokesman Mark Couch.

The suspension states the the owner of the driving school, "...has allowed people, other than a driver's license applicant, to complete an applicant's written exam or to provide answers to applicants on the written exam."

The owner of Ola's Driving School, Sikiru "Ola" Fadeyi, has less than a week to appeal his suspension.

When approached by CBS4's Kathy Walsh about what happened, he declined to give a comment.

"I don't want to talk to anybody," said Fadeyi.

According to an FBI affidavit, a source claims many of the people being ordered to retake the tests are from Somalia and Ethiopia.

The FBI recorded undercover informants.

"He was asking for $300 per license test in some cases," said Couch.

Fadeyi was certified as a third party license tester in 2000. He was suspended in 2003 and 2010. He also faces possible criminal charges including mail fraud and bribery.

There are 185 third party testing schools in Colorado. The state has revoked the licenses of five of those schools in the past 11 years.

Those who were identified in the Ola's Driving School investigation have until Aug. 26 to test again somewhere else or they lose their driving privileges.

In April, the Department of Motor Vehicles revoked 1,600 licenses from students at the American Driving Academy in Arvada. Instructor and manager Dennis Sieving was fired after being indicted on 21 counts of bribery and mail fraud. He is accused of falsifying driving test results and certifying people for licenses when they failed the driving test.

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