Thread: Immigrant forgery network reached Myrtle Beach area

Immigrant forgery network reached Myrtle Beach area


N.C. cell created false paperwork for immigrants

By David Wren

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents say they have broken up local ties to a brutal nationwide network of Hispanics who they believe produce false documents for illegal immigrants on the Grand Strand and elsewhere in the region.

Some of the false documents were distributed locally by Victor Hugo Roa-Alzua, who will be arraigned in federal court Tuesday on five felony charges that he conspired to produce and transfer false identification documents.

Roa-Alzua is part of a national network headed by Israel Cruz Millan - also known as El Muerto, which is Spanish for "the dead one" - that has been under investigation for the past year, according to court documents. The network has sent 1,500 wire transfers totaling about $1 million from its activities to a home base in Mexico, ICE officials said.


ICE officials say they have identified the network's document production cells in at least 14 states, including the Carolinas. Roa-Alzua - who also goes by the names Primo and Leonardo - was part of a Wilmington, N.C., cell that also distributed phony documents along the Grand Strand, court documents say. He faces up to 75 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Local law enforcement and state employment officials say they aren't sure how big a problem the fake IDs, which can be used to obtain jobs, pose in Horry County and elsewhere.

"They pop up periodically in audits, but we don't have statistics to tell us what percentage of documents are fake," said Jim Knight, the administrator of a statewide program that requires business owners to verify the legal status of new hires. A valid driver's license is all that's required to verify a worker's legal status.

The false driver's licenses often "look perfect in every way," Knight said, adding that it can be impossible for employers to detect them unless the documents are cross-checked against the federal E-verify database, which is not required by state law. False documents can go unnoticed by employers until an LLR audit occurs.

In November, agents confiscated false documents, including counterfeit resident alien cards, Social Security cards and Western Union receipts, along with electronic equipment, when they searched the Moonlight Drive home in Horry County where they say Roa-Alzua was headquartered.

According to an affidavit by an ICE investigator, Roa-Alzua met with document buyers in a parking lot across from the Wal-Mart Superstore in Myrtle Beach and at other locations where he would take the buyer's photo with a cellular telephone and deliver the documents the next day.

He charged between $150 and $180 for a Resident Alien card and a Social Security card, according to the affidavit, which states the documents probably were made in Wilmington.

Bill Day, the assistant U.S. attorney who will prosecute the case, said he does not expect further indictments from Horry County, although the investigation into the national group continues.

For example, 30 people, including Millan, were charged last month in Richmond, Va., with producing fake green cards and other documents as part of the group. Defendants in that case also are charged with money laundering.

The national group "is highly territorial and uses violence to deter rival organizations and competitors," an affidavit in the Roa-Alzua case states. That affidavit by an ICE agent says the group has been linked to at least one kidnapping in Virginia and the murder of a rival document vendor in Arkansas.

"Members of the [group] have been extremely conscious of surveillance and the organization has moved both personnel and locations when they become aware of or suspect any law enforcement presence," the affidavit states.

Day said he expects Roa-Alzua will remain in custody until his trial, which has not been scheduled.

Greg Hembree - solicitor for the state's 15th Judicial Circuit, which includes Horry and Georgetown counties - said his office does not see many false IDs.

"That's probably because people are smart enough not to use fake IDs when they're pulled over by the police," he said.

Hembree said he is certain the problem exists, but most likely shows up at the workplace rather than the courtroom.

"Maybe they're using them to get jobs or benefits," he said. "There are not a lot of [criminal] reports where we're seeing fake IDs."

State officials have cited 30 businesses in Horry and Georgetown counties - including The Sun News - for failing to properly verify the legal status of new workers. Most of the area businesses cited since the state's Immigration Reform Act took effect on July 1, 2009, have been restaurants, hotels and retail stores. State officials learned of the violations either through random audits or complaints.

The Sun News was cited on Nov. 10, 2009. The violation was corrected within 72 hours so the $850 fine was waived. The company now uses E-verify.

The state's LLR levied $56,500 in fines against those area businesses, but those fines were waived in all but one case because the businesses complied with state law within 72 hours. Three Palms Oceanfront Myrtle Beach, a hotel at 703 S. Ocean Blvd., was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine for failing to comply with the state law.

A state database of citations does not specify whether false driver's licenses or other documents were part of the violations.

Knight said the best way for business owners to protect themselves against phony documents and potential fines is to use the free E-verify system, an Internet-based system set up by the federal government to determine the validity of Social Security numbers and other employment information.

"The accuracy rate is between 95 percent and 97 percent," Knight said. "That's the best system for screening out the phony documents."

www.thesunnews.com

why do I believe that law enforcement knows all there is to know but has chosen to turn a blind eye because of ethnic politics?

Our DMV gives them fake IDs and drivers licenses day after day.

One of the reasons that we are a magnet state for these criminals.

Originally Posted by alamb

why do I believe that law enforcement knows all there is to know but has chosen to turn a blind eye because of ethnic politics?

because it's true a lot of officers set these people free simply because they don't want to get stuck with a supposedly non English speaking illegal immigrant and the paperwork involved.

The hired 4 extra full time extra cops here to do nothing but give out DUI s

Why can't they hire 4 to go after the illegal immigrants like that with that type of gung ho attitude?

Our illegal immigrant problem far far out weighs our DUIs by a long shot!

only one betters our state the other makes the state approx 3,000 to 5,000 dollars on fines alone

Originally Posted by onetrickydude

Our DMV gives them fake IDs and drivers licenses day after day.

One of the reasons that we are a magnet state for these criminals.

THEY ARE THE CHOSEN ONES AS FAR AS THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS ARE CONCERNED. THESE SO CALLED HONEST HARD WORKING GOOD FOR NOTHINGS GET AWAY WITH ANY AND EVERY THING THEY DO. AND TO THINK HOW THEY TREATED AFRICAN-AMERICANS, AND THEN THEY ROLL OUT THE WELCOME MAT FOR THESE PEOPLE.

Related:
Feds break up false ID ring for illegal aliens
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-1168127.html#1168127

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http://www.alipac.us/article-5986--0-0.html