Thread: Illegal alien airport security supervisor used dead man's ID

NJ airport: Security supervisor used dead man's ID

By DAVID PORTER | Associated Press – 21 mins ago...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A Nigerian man used the identity of a murder victim to hide his status as an illegal immigrant while working undetected for decades as a security guard and then a security supervisor at one of the United States' busiest airports, authorities said Monday in announcing his arrest.

The arrest of Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole came on the day a federal report found the Transportation Security Administration's handling of security breaches at the airport, Newark Liberty International, deficient. Newark has had a number of high-profile security beaches, the most notorious being the case of a Chinese graduate student who slipped past an exit checkpoint to say goodbye to his girlfriend in 2010, shutting down a terminal and causing huge delays affecting domestic and international traffic.

Oyewole, 54, worked at the airport, starting in 1992, under the name of Jerry Thomas, who was killed that year in New York City. He was arrested, after an anonymous tip, at his home in Elizabeth on Monday and faced charges including identity theft, authorities said. It wasn't immediately known how Thomas' personal information was acquired.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the area's main airports and other transit hubs, said Oyewole entered the United States illegally in 1989 and had worked under several contractors at the airport, most recently FJC Security Services, and supervised about 30 guards. The agency said its investigation found no indication that he used the fake identity for any reason other than to live in the United States.

Port Authority leaders had spoken with FJC officials "and will meet with them in the coming days to take every legally permissible step to recheck their security personnel on a regular basis and to protect our customers, employees and facilities," agency spokesman Steve Coleman said.

A message left Monday on Oyewole's home phone was not immediately returned, and the Port Authority said it wasn't sure if he had retained an attorney.

FJC Security, which received an airport contract in 2003, said it conducted a background check on the guard as had New Jersey state police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"In all cases, he passed the background checks," FJC spokesman Michael McKeon said. "During his time with FJC, he had nothing in his record or his performance to indicate a cause for concern or a reason to question the state police and federal government's background checks."

In a statement, the TSA said it was reviewing the Port Authority's procedures for validating employee and contractor documents.

"This investigation indicates that the individual's identification documents were presented to the Port Authority for verification about a decade before TSA existed," the statement said.

State police spokesman Lt. Stephen Jones said New Jersey requires security guards to undergo training under the Security Officer Registration Act and be fingerprinted. The fingerprints are run through the state police criminal history database before a guard is certified.

A candidate is disqualified if he or she has a conviction for a fourth-degree offense or higher or a drug offense of any level, Jones said. Oyewole, as Thomas, was certified under SORA, he said.

A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection didn't immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.

An airport employee who was familiar with Oyewole as Thomas said the private security guards he supervised are responsible for manning TSA security checkpoints after passenger gates close for the evening and before they reopen in the morning. The guards also inspect delivery vehicles for possible unauthorized cargo, he said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.

A search of public records found evidence of a Bimbo Oyewole and a Jerry Thomas living at the address where Oyewole was arrested.

A report released Monday by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found that only 42 percent of reported security breaches from January 2010 to May 2011 led to corrective action, though it also found TSA had worked to improve its response.

NJ airport: Security supervisor used dead man's ID - Yahoo! News

America, do you feel secure tonight?

Perp walk: Illegal alien Bimbo
Olumuyiwa Oyewole lived a double life
for 20 years thanks to poor immigration security.
Photo credit: TSA/DHS

ILLEGAL ALIEN CAUGHT WORKING AS AIRPORT SECURITY SUPERVISOR WITH STOLEN ID
Jim Kouri Published 05/15/2012 - 6:42 a.m. CST

Department of Homeland Security officials are shocked to discover that an illegal alien held the position of security supervisor at an airport from which United Flight 93 departed on September 11, 2001 and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania when passengers rose up and attacked their terrorist captors.

In a shocking revelation, a Post Authority of New York and New Jersey police source told the Law Enforcement Examiner that a veteran security supervisor at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey -- one of three major airports in the New York City metropolitan area -- has been using the identity of a murder victim for about 20 years.

The police source stated that the illegal alien -- whose real name is believed to be Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole -- was arrested Monday in his home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The 54-year old Nigerian had assumed the identity of American citizen Jerry Thomas, who was a murder victim in 1992 in an unsolved homicide in New York City.

"Investigators have reopened the case in order to rule out Oyewole as a suspect in the 20-year old cold case," the police informed the Law Enforcement Examiner.

Homeland Security and Port Authority Police are investigating how Thomas' personal information was allegedly stolen by the Nigerian illegal alien

A Nigerian crime syndicate has been involved for a number of years in identity theft and creating fake identification documents including driver licenses, social security cards and other ID instruments.

According to the Law Enforcement Examiner source, "Oyewole apparently had all the documents he needed to successfully pass for Jerry Thomas, including a birth certificate and a social security card. He had worked under several contractors at the airport, most recently FJC Security Services.

Newark International is one of the nation's airports that opted to hire a private security agency rather than use U.S. Transportation Security Agency personnel. By law, security personnel working for New York security firms must be registered by the state after completing all of the requirements including a background check, fingerprinting, training class completion and passing a written examination.

FJC Security, which received the Newark International Airport contract in 2003, claims it indeed did conduct a due diligence background check on the Nigerian suspect as did the New Jersey State Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component of the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS officials stated that Oyewole "had nothing in his background or his performance to that raised any red flags indicating a cause for concern or a reason to question the state police and federal government's background checks."

ILLEGAL ALIEN CAUGHT WORKING AS AIRPORT SECURITY SUPERVISOR WITH STOLEN ID - TheCypressTimes

So what's next? The president gets caught posing as an illegal alien?

Yay: Illegal Immigrant Uses Dead Man's I.D. For Years to Work as Top Airport Security Official

Katie Pavlich
News Editor, Townhall

An illegal immigrant worked undetected at Newark Liberty International Airport for 20 years, and used a dead man's identity to acquire a top position in airport security, officials said.

The man was known to co-workers as Jerry Thomas, and for nearly 20 years he has guarded some of the most secure areas of one of the nation's busiest airports.

He was arrested Monday after authorities discovered he is really an illegal Nigerian immigrant by the name of Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole (among other alilases) who entered the country in 1989, officials said.

CBS Station WCBS reports Oyewole, 54, allegedly assumed the identity of a dead man to get a top security job at the airport. He was arrested at his Elizabeth, N.J., home following an anonymous tip, officials said.

"In this case, the defendant utilized an elaborate and complex scheme of identity theft to defraud his employer, the State of New Jersey, the federal government and the Port Authority," Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Inspector General Robert Van Etten said.

Yay: Illegal Immigrant Uses Dead Man's I.D. For Years to Work as Top Airport Security Official - Katie Pavlich

Airport worker allegedly had man's ID before death


By DAVID PORTER, Associated Press


NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A Newark Liberty Airport security supervisor pleaded not guilty to identity theft Tuesday as new details emerged about his alleged 20-year odyssey of deception, including that he may have assumed the identity of a New York manweeks before the man was murdered.

Through his court-appointed attorney, Nigerian Bimbo Olumuyiwa Oyewole pleaded not guilty to one count of identity theft, a second-degree offense punishable by a maximum 10-year sentence.

Standing in an orange prison jumpsuit and flanked by two sheriff's officers, Oyewole appeared via video feed from the Essex County Correctional Facility where he has been held since his arrest Monday at his home in nearby Elizabeth.

Municipal Court Judge Roslyn Holmes-Grant raised his bail from $75,000 to $250,000 after Deputy Attorney General Vincent Militello noted that prosecutors believe Oyewole may have used several aliases over the years.

"We simply do not know who this gentleman is," Militello told the judge. "Therefore he is a flight risk."

Oyewole also has been placed under a federal immigration detainer, essentially a notification that he has been identified for deportation. He spoke once during Tuesday's hearing, to answer a question from the judge on his place of residence.

Oyewole is charged with using the identity of Jerry Thomas, a petty criminal who was shot outside a Queens, N.Y., YMCA in July 1992. Thomas' murder remains unsolved, but police in New York said Tuesday there is no evidence tying Oyewole to Thomas' shooting.

However, two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation said Oyewole began using Thomas' birth certificate and Social Security number three weeks before Thomas' murder. The officials requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss details of the case publicly.

In another curious detail, Thomas is buried in Elizabeth in a cemetery Oyewole would likely have to pass on his way to work, the officials said.

Authorities were alerted to Oyewole's alleged double life when the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's inspector general's office in Hoboken received an anonymous letter, the officials said. The letter described Oyewole's using additional names, though those weren't divulged Tuesday.

The Port Authority, which operates the area's main airports and other transit hubs, said Oyewole entered the United States illegally in 1989 and had worked under several contractors at the airport, most recently FJC Security Services, and supervised about 30 guards. The agency said its investigation found no indication that he used the fake identity for any reason other than to live in the United States.

An FJC spokesman said Monday that Oyewole didn't have access to employees' personal information in his position as tour supervisor.

Potentially more problematic from a security standpoint, Oyewole had access to sensitive areas of the airport, including the tarmac and the planes themselves. The employees he supervised also inspected cargo vehicles for possible unauthorized cargo, an airport employee familiar with Oyewole told The Associated Press on Monday.

Officials from the Port Authority, which oversees the private security firms that are employed at the airport, planned to meet with FJC officials to discuss rechecking their security personnel on a regular basis, a Port Authority spokesman said.

Oyewole's attorney is expected to file for a bail reduction, and a hearing could happen later this week or next week. A formal arraignment is scheduled for June 18.

The Associated Press: Airport worker allegedly had man's ID before death

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