Jonathan Madrigal Vega

On July 31, 2025, officers were sent to the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services office at [ADDRESS REDACTED], St. Paul, Ramsey County on employee theft involving payment for title and license fees. On July 26, 2025, staff noted a short money count that triggered an investigation. Staff uncovered video evidence of the defendant, JONATHAN MADRIGAL VEGA [DOB REDACTED], had stolen money. The defendant was hired in July 2023 and was considered an outstanding employee. Staff explained that surveillance video from July 26, 2025 showed the defendant process a transaction where the actual purchase price of the vehicle was $243.25. The defendant printed a receipt of the transaction, stamped it, and provided the receipt to the customer.

The defendant then reversed the transaction and wrote in a lower purchase amount on the customer’s title. The defendant then created a new fraudulent transaction that showed the amount owed to DVS was $47.00. The defendant removed $50 from his wallet, put it in the register, and removed the difference between the two transactions – $196.25. The defendant scanned the altered title after completing the fraudulent transaction. On July 29, 2025, staff confronted the defendant about his theft. The defendant admitted he had stolen money for the past year, and he estimated the amount of his theft was $19,500. The defendant worked at 4 different sites.

The defendant estimated that he took $7000 from the St. Paul location, $5000 from the Eagan location, $6000 from the Inver Grove Heights location, and $1500 from the Circle Pine location. The defendant brought $19,500 to his employers. Further investigation showed the defendant completed 27 fraudulent transactions using the method outlined above between October 2024 and July 2025 at the different sites. The total loss to the State of Minnesota was $7854.33. The defendant also stole $540 from the St. Paul location in a transaction from January 2025 and another transaction from June 2025. The defendant processed motor vehicle renewals covering multiple years from Spanish-speaking customers.

The defendant processed the transaction, reversed it, then created a fraudulent transaction that eliminated all but one year of registration fees. The defendant pocketed the difference between what the customers initially paid and the lower amount. The total documented loss to the State of Minnesota is $8394.33.