Missouri identity ring highlights growing threat to national security, say federal agents

2012-01-13 09:35 AM
By: Mark Rockwell

St. Joseph, MO

The indictment of 15 people in Missouri in a crack-down on a black market fake identity document ring highlights a growing threat to national security, said federal agents involved in the case.

Fourteen people were indicted on Jan. 12 for participating in a $5 million conspiracy to provide more than 3,500 fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens across the U.S. The indictment included six members of a St. Joseph, MO, family and three Guatemalan nationals in Carthage, MO. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations and other investigators allege the scheme used the Missouri Department of Revenue license office in St. Joseph, MO, to generate fraudulent documents sold by the ring.

"The individuals involved in this conspiracy orchestrated an extensive identity fraud scheme on a grand scale," said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations office in Chicago. "Identity and document fraud is a burgeoning problem in the United States that poses a direct threat to national security and public safety. These charges reflect ICE HSI's ongoing commitment to investigate this type of criminal activity and those who assume other people's identities to skirt the law."

"St. Joseph was the hub of a criminal conspiracy for thousands of illegal aliens who traveled to Missouri from across the country," said U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips, Western District of Missouri. "Conspirators operated a vast black market where identities were bought and sold. It's crucial for business and public safety that we maintain the integrity of government-issued IDs. Those who profited from this illegal scheme will be held accountable."

"Troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and investigators from the Missouri Department of Revenue were part of this state-federal-local investigation of conspirators who allegedly assisted illegal immigrants attempting to obtain identity documents fraudulently," Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Jerry Lee said. "Today, that law enforcement partnership resulted in arrests in Missouri and Texas. The success of this investigation would not have been possible without outstanding cooperation between state, federal and local law enforcement agencies. I commend the troopers from the Highway Patrol, investigators from the Department of Revenue and the local and federal officers that have taken part in this investigation."

The federal indictment alleges that all 14 defendants participated in the conspiracy that began in November 2009 to transport illegal aliens, to unlawfully produce identification documents, to unlawfully transfer another person's identification and to commit Social Security fraud.

The conspirators allegedly provided illegal aliens with birth certificates and Social Security cards in the names of others and with Missouri residential addresses. The indictment alleges that illegal aliens traveled to St. Joseph from across the U.S. to get either a Missouri driver's license or non-driver's license by using unlawfully-obtained birth certificates and Social Security cards. The state licenses were then used by the illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. illegally, to get jobs and for other unlawful purposes.

The indictment estimated that more than 3,500 licenses were issued to illegal alien customers by the Department of Revenue license office in St. Joseph. Each customer paid $1,500 to $1,600 to obtain documents and a license, the indictment said, totaling more than $5.25 million in gross proceeds.

According to the indictment, the document ring’s members actively recruited illegal alien customers for the fake documents and directed them to travel to St. Joseph to pick them up. Sometimes they even provided customers with transportation to St. Joseph, ferrying some from as far away as North Carolina and Texas to Missouri, according to the indictment.

The St. Joseph defendants allegedly accompanied customers into the local license office masquerading as translators to help them get a state license in the name of another person. They also allegedly helped with memorizing information on the birth certificates and Social Security cards, the indictment says, and to practice signing the name so that the signatures would be similar. They also helped prepare customers for potential questions from the license office employees, according to the indictment.

In addition to the conspiracy, the federal indictment charges various defendants in five counts of transporting illegal aliens, eight counts of unlawfully producing identification documents, nine counts of unlawfully transferring another person's identification, eight counts of Social Security fraud, and nine counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government any property obtained from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of $5.25 million.

Missouri identity ring highlights growing threat to national security, say federal agents | Government Security News