Business owner in US illegally

by Sandra Haros/KTAR (June 30th, 2009 @ 6:12pm)
Comments:30

An employer sanction investigation conducted by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has put a million dollar company in jeopardy.

Deputies conducted a search warrant on Aracruz International Granite in Phoenix Tuesday morning looking for the owner, and not necessarily the workers.

"We received information through our illegal immigration hotline that he was running this business [and] that he was illegally here from Brazil," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a press conference.

Arpaio says deputies found Raphael Libardi at his home in Anthem. He is accused of ID theft and mortgage fraud.

Deputies say he was illegally using a deceased man's social security number to purchase two vehicles and two homes, one of which has been foreclosed on.

Libardi's two adult children were also arrested for being in the country illegally. All three snuck in through Mexico, according to the sheriff's office.

Aracruz International is a supplier of granite counter tops which employs between 15 and 20 people and is believed to generate about $1.9 million in annual sales.

Other employees, some of which are related to Libardi, were also found to be in the country illegally.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office also noted that Libardi has donated $5,000 annually to the Republican Congressional National Committee.

http://www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1184968