Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Celia Israel said the case reflects a broader problem with motor vehicle fraud in Texas.
Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Two former Travis County Tax Office employees and a third person have been indicted on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity in connection to a broader unlawful vehicle title and registration scheme, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
A Travis County grand jury on June 25 indicted former tax office employees Ana Marina Hernandez and Maira Yesenia Reyes, along with Edwin Mauricio Hernandez, who did not work for the tax office, on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity.
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The indictment alleges that Ana Marina Hernandez and Reyes tampered with government records on Oct. 2, 2025 while working for the tax office. During the investigation, Ana Marina Hernandez told investigators that her father, Edwin Mauricio Hernandez, helped carry out the scheme by working with residents seeking to obtain unlawful vehicle registrations, according to the district attorney’s office.
Arrest affidavits in the case reviewed by the American-Statesman allege the fraud went beyond a handful of illegal registrations.
According to investigators, Ana Marina Hernandez admitted that she processed fraudulent vehicle title and registration transactions while working at the tax office, charging customers about $50 to register a vehicle and $100 to transfer a title.
Investigators wrote in the affidavits that Hernandez bypassed Texas inspection and emissions requirements by altering records in the state’s vehicle registration system, allowing vehicles that had not passed state-mandated inspections and emissions tests to be legally registered.
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The affidavits say Hernandez told investigators that she used her own credit cards to pay registration fees while her father collected payments from customers through Zelle, a peer-to-peer payment service. Hernandez also allegedly admitted using Reyes’ county login to complete the transactions and paying Reyes for access to her username and password.
Investigators allege Edwin Hernandez acted as a middleman, finding customers seeking illegal registrations, collecting their money and sending their vehicle information to his daughter by text message so she could process the paperwork.
Investigators reviewed Zelle and other payment records showing more than $132,000 transferred between Edwin Hernandez and his daughter from 2022 to 2025, though they said they could not determine whether every payment was connected to the alleged scheme. Investigators also found nearly $30,000 in payments between Ana Marina Hernandez and Reyes that they believe were compensation for using Reyes’ employee account.
The investigation began after an internal audit at the tax office uncovered suspicious registration transactions and officials asked constables to investigate, according to the affidavits. In one instance cited in the court records, Hernandez allegedly admitted processing a registration for a vehicle even though it had not passed a required emissions inspection since 2020. The affidavits also point to two other vehicle identification numbers that Hernandez allegedly said she used to process fraudulent registrations, both of which were coordinated through her father.
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Reyes allegedly told investigators that she allowed Hernandez to use her county login and estimated that about 100 fraudulent transactions were completed using her account.
The three were charged Feb. 3 by the Travis County Constable’s Office, Precinct 3, with engaging in organized criminal activity, with tampering with a governmental record as the underlying offense.
“We thank our partners at the Travis County Constable’s Office, Precinct 3, and Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Celia Israel for our ongoing collaboration on this case,” District Attorney José Garza said in a statement. “Holding the defendants accountable for abusing their positions as public servants is critical to maintaining community trust in our local government.”
The case is being prosecuted by the district attorney’s Public Integrity and Complex Cases Unit in the 403rd Judicial District Court.
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Prosecutors in District Attorney José Garza’s Public Integrity and Complex Cases Unit have secured an indictment against former Travis County tax office employees and a third person for allegedly engaging in organized criminal activity.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Israel said the case reflects a broader problem with motor vehicle fraud in Texas.
“We believe these individuals betrayed the public trust and are grateful to see the criminal justice system will hold them to account,” Israel said in a statement. “Motor vehicle fraud is rampant in Texas, and it hits our community from many angles. My office isn’t backing down.”
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Israel said her office would continue working with law enforcement to detect fraud and protect county residents.
The district attorney’s office did not provide information about whether any residents accused of seeking unlawful registrations have been charged.