NATCHEZ &8212; The Highway Patrol has placed two driver&8217;s license examiners and one state trooper on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation of possible driver&8217;s license fraud.

Last week, a television station reported the MHP and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations are looking into whether the examiners went into the computers of MHP&8217;s Natchez office to change their licenses to reflect Gulf Coast addresses, then used the licenses to get Red Cross hurricane relief checks.

It was also reported the employees may have altered license addresses for relatives of those being investigated.

Col. Marvin Curtis, director of MHP, could not be reached for comment Monday, and Public Affairs Director Warren Strain said he can&8217;t comment on an ongoing investigation except to say those being investigated &8212; whose names he wouldn&8217;t release &8212; are on administrative leave with pay.

Strain also wouldn&8217;t say how many arrests the investigation could ultimately yield.

&8220;Right now, it&8217;s premature to get into all that,&8221; Strain said. &8220;We&8217;re just waiting to see the outcome of the investigation.&8221;

The Natchez driver&8217;s license office normally employs three individuals. Two were working last week, one of which was a traveling employee not normally based in Natchez. Both workers said they were not allowed to comment on anything.

While it was reported that Red Cross workers were being interviewed as part of the investigation, John Goodrich, executive director of the Red Cross&8217; Adams County chapter, said he didn&8217;t know any details but had heard rumors of such fraud for several weeks now.