Thread: Firm that sold fake IDs ordered to pay $385,520

Firm that sold fake IDs ordered to pay $385,520


Credenciales USA targeted nonnative speakers
By Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel

May 2, 2011 |(12) Comments

Credenciales USA and Hugo Loyo have been ordered to pay $385,520 for breaking state law by marketing and selling fake international driver's licenses and state identification cards, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced Monday.

Loyo, who ran the south side business since at least 2008, targeted foreign-born and nonnative speakers of English through newspaper ads and radio. He falsely claimed that the identification cards he was selling authorized consumers to drive legally in the United States and could be used as valid photo ID, neither of which was true, Van Hollen said in a statement.

"In this case the perpetrators preyed on vulnerable consumers," he said.

He warned consumers not to fall for such scams. Only the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance are authorized to legally issue international driver's permits to U.S. residents, he added.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a consumer fraud alert regarding the marketing and sale of similar fake IDs in the U.S., Van Hollen said. Ads and offers for these IDs are showing up on websites and as spam email. They're also sold on the street and through storefront operations for $65 to $350, according to the FTC.

Because neither Loyo nor his firm answered the complaint, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan has entered a default judgment and order in the case.

Loyo is no longer in Milwaukee. It's believed Loyo has left the country and returned to Mexico.

The court order also enjoins Loyo and Credenciales from conducting business in further violation of the law.

In 2008, Voces de la Frontera and the Southside Organizing Committee, two local nonprofit groups, asked Loyo to stop advertising the identification documents, but Loyo refused the requests by the groups.

"I don't do anything illegal, and they have no legal reason to ask me to stop," he said, according to the announcement.

Loyo started providing the IDs after a new state law took effect that required proof of citizenship for a driver's license.

He charged $100 or more for an international driver's license and $30 for the general ID, according to Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of Voces.

She said Voces forwarded complaints from individuals to the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The case was later referred to the state Department of Justice.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/121132104.html

No Jail Time??!!

There will certainly be the emergence of the market have this crime

"In this case the perpetrators preyed on vulnerable consumers," he said

These consumers are not vulnerable when they are intentionally looking for ways to steal their way through the systems

I don't do anything illegal, and they have no legal reason to ask me to stop," he said, according to the announcement.

So he is innocent and that is why he:

Loyo is no longer in Milwaukee. It's believed Loyo has left the country and returned to Mexico