Thread: Chinese crime ring accused in New Mexico driver license frau

Chinese crime ring accused in New Mexico driver license fraud
indianas4.com
Dennis J. Carroll Reuters
9:07 p.m. EDT, August 25, 2011

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Three leaders of a Chinese crime ring were indicted on Thursday as part of efforts by New Mexico to stop illegal immigrants from fraudulently claiming residency to get driver's licenses in the state.

The men were accused of running ads in Chinese newspapers in New York City promising New Mexico driver's licenses, according to the office of District Attorney Kari Brandenburg in Albuquerque. Arrests were pending.

The indictments of Gordon Leong, 23, Tin Cheung, 35, and Alex Cheung, 60, brought yet another sharp rebuke by Republican Governor Susana Martinez of the state's driver license system that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses.

"We have long known of fraud and abuse in our driver's license system and these latest indictments make it clear that we must address (the) problem," Martinez said.

"We are attracting criminals to our state who exploit our driver's license policy and threaten the safety and security of all New Mexicans."

New Mexico is one of three states, including Utah and Washington, that allow illegal immigrants to lawfully obtain driver's licenses provided they show proof of residency.

Some officials fear the state's lenient driver's license rules were making New Mexico a magnet for illegal immigrants from out-of-state seeking licenses unavailable to them in the states where they live.

Seeking to combat such fraud, Martinez's administration in July ordered the state to reverify the physical residency of foreign nationals who hold New Mexico driver's licenses in order to get or keep their licenses.

Martinez, a former prosecutor who made a crackdown on illegal immigration the centerpiece of her election campaign, issued the requirement after the state legislature failed to ban licenses for illegal immigrants earlier this year.

But opponents have sued to block the recertification process, arguing the measure unfairly singles out individuals based on whether they were born in the United States.

The trio indicted on Thursday, who had been operating out of leased apartments in Albuquerque, are accused of securing driver's licenses for 62 illegal immigrants of Chinese descent, primarily from New York, for $1,500 each in 2009 and 2010, the District Attorney's office said in a statement.

Each defendant faces 386 counts including fraud, forgery and making a false affidavit. Tin and Alex Cheung were also accused of fraudulently notarizing residential and lease agreements for their customers.

The immigrants who participated in the scheme flew into Albuquerque from New York, obtained their driver's permits and left the state, the indictment says.

The ringleaders were accused of having the actual licenses mailed to an address in Albuquerque and then forwarded to their clients in New York. The state has canceled all 62 driver's licenses issued in the case.

In a similar case earlier this month, a grand jury indicted an Albuquerque woman on more than 300 felony counts of helping 43 illegal immigrants from Mexico obtain the licenses.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

http://www.indianas4.com/sns-rt-us-crim ... 6603.story

Related:

NM grand jury indicts 3 in driver's license ring

By The Associated Pres
Posted: 08/25/2011 05:44:51 PM MDT

http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-248257-0-da ... rasc-.html

August 26, 2011 Friday


3 Indicted In Driver's License Fraud;
Trio Accused of Helping Nonresidents Get N.M. IDs

Astrid Galvan Journal Staff Writer


Three Chinese men arrested last year on charges of helping dozens of illegal immigrants fraudulently obtain New Mexico driver's licenses were indicted Thursday on more than 1,150 charges.

A Bernalillo County grand jury indicted Gordon Leong, Tin Cheung and Alex Cheung after an unusual amount of testimony that lasted more than three hours, District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said.

The three face 386 counts each of fraud, forgery, conspiracy, making false affidavit, perjury, and altered, forged or fictitious license for their alleged role in helping 62 suspected illegal immigrants from out of state get local driver's licenses. New Mexico is one of two states that grants licenses to illegal immigrants.

Sixteen other people accused of paying the three to obtain licenses also were charged.

Prosecutors had been investigating the case since November 2010, when the trio was arrested by State Police after an employee at the Motor Vehicle Division office at 1625 Rio Bravo SW suspected they were using fraudulent papers to obtain licenses.

Authorities suspect the ring had operated since at least March 2009, according to the indictments.

The number of arrests of people accused of living out of state and forging documents to obtain driver's licenses in the state has grown since a 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. Only one other state, Washington, has such a law.

Foreign nationals from India, Poland, Brazil, Korea and elsewhere have been accused of fraudulently obtaining New Mexico licenses.

Gov. Susana Martinez has highlighted many of these fraud cases in her quest to repeal that law, but she has been met with resistance from the Democrat-controlled state Legislature and immigrant rights groups.

In the meantime, Martinez has ordered MVD to verify 10,000 of the 85,000 licenses issued to foreign nationals. That step also has been challenged by a national Latino civil rights group.

"We have long known of fraud and abuse in our driver's license system and these latest indictments make it clear that we must address the problem," Martinez said in a written statement. "We are attracting criminals to our state who exploit our driver's license policy and threaten the safety and security of all New Mexicans. I applaud the hard work that went into cracking down on this particular fraud ring, but that is only a stopgap measure until we repeal the law that invites this criminal activity once and for all."

Brandenburg said the decision to seek indictments was not political and was simply a matter of enforcing the law.

"This is a complex case. It involves, a number of individuals and I'm glad we got an indictment, and are pursuing charges against these individuals. I think it's very important," she said.

The three suspected ringleaders are accused of running ads in Chinese newspapers in New York that promised New Mexico driver's licenses for anywhere between $500 and $1,500, according to the DA's office. They leased several apartments in Albuquerque and used the addresses to get licenses at MVD after flying their Chinese-born customers to New Mexico.

When the ring was caught last year, a woman who had hired the men to help her get a license said she had paid $500 and flown in from Missouri.

MVD has seen about 11 such cases, including one in which an Albuquerque notary also accused of participating in a large heroin ring had helped 29 people obtain licenses fraudulently, authorities said.

"Basically we are in law enforcement, and so what we do is try to hold people accountable that break the law. This clearly is a case where the law was broken and where the potential of obtaining a New Mexico license was abused, and so we are holding those offenders accountable," Brandenburg said.

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