Thread: Md. Man Accused Of Document Fraud (Bethesda Naval Stn)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01403.html

Md. Man Accused Of Document Fraud
Cook Arrested in Sting, Police Say

By Ernesto Londoo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005; Page B02

A cook at a naval facility in West Bethesda was arrested this month for allegedly selling a fake Social Security card and an immigration document to a police officer posing as an undocumented Panamanian.

Montgomery County police charged Wenceslao Ramos-Andrade, 31, of Hyattsville, with sale of a false identification card, possession of fraudulent government documents and forgery of a public document. All the charges are misdemeanors.


Fake documents for immigrants have long been a problem, said a police spokesman, Lt. Eric Burnett.

"Unfortunately, the technology has gotten so much better in this country that it has become more difficult to determine which documents are real," Burnett said.

Ramos-Andrade was arrested Dec. 21 and released that day on $10,000 bail, police said. Attempts to reach Ramos-Andrade, who was a civilian worker at the Carderock division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, were unsuccessful.

The arrest came after a joint investigation by detectives from the Montgomery police fraud section and investigators at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Investigators set up a sting after learning that Ramos-Andrade sold fake documents to unauthorized immigrants, according to a statement of probable cause filed as part of his arrest. The document gives this outline of the case:

On Nov. 29, a police officer from Naval District Washington called Ramos-Andrade, identified himself under an assumed name, Israel Martinez, and asked about buying fake documents.

Ramos-Andrade offered to sell him a Social Security card and a resident alien card for $300. They agreed to meet the next day in the parking lot of White Flint Mall. When the men met, the price for the documents dropped to $247. The officer gave Ramos-Andrade the cash and two passport-size photographs. Ramos-Andrade said the documents would be ready in three days.

The officer asked Ramos-Andrade whether the documents could be used to open a bank account. Ramos-Andrade said yes.

Federal agents photographed the meeting and trailed Ramos-Andrade to two addresses in Hyattsville. On Dec. 3 agents gathered at White Flint Mall, this time in front of a Dave and Buster's restaurant. Ramos-Andrade handed the officer a small envelope with the documents. The officer told Ramos-Andrade he had nine additional prospective clients.

Ramos-Andrade showed the officer a resident alien card with Ramos-Andrade's photo and said that type of fake document, which cost $450, is so reliable "that if the barcode on one of those resident alien cards is scanned it will come up with correct information," according to the charging document. Some resident alien cards, which in the past didn't have bar codes, have been enhanced recently to foil counterfeiters.

The officer told Ramos-Andrade that he knew a couple of Arab men who wanted U.S. passports. Ramos-Andrade told him he could get the passports, along with driver's licenses, but would need more time, the document says.

Law enforcement officials have focused more on fake identification documents since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Burnett said.

"I'm not saying that every person who is illegal is a criminal," he said, "but there are those who are trying to get their documents with a criminal intent in mind."

"I'm not saying that every person who is illegal is a criminal,"

WELL I CERTAINLY AM!

Hey, Mr. Hadenuf, you handsome devil. A toast to a Happy New Year to you!

All the charges are misdemeanors.

Good thing to know that these crimes are only misdemeanors, so he'll only get a slap on the wrist and be out next month to do it again. We sure wouldn't want any illegals needing fake documents to be inconvenienced.

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VIVA LA MIGRA!