I swear I didn't make this headline up folks but oh how I love it.

Illegal is done in by fake ID
Thursday, December 06, 2007
By SEAN C. McCULLEN
smccullen@sjnewsco.com

BRIDGETON -- If you're not in the country legally, the city IGA grocery store is not the place to go to wire money back to family or friends in your native land.

At least not if you plan to send $800 or more and don't have legitimate-looking fake identification cards.

A 31-year-old Mexican man who had been living on Bank Street recently found that out the hard way.

He's now in jail on the charge of presenting fraudulent documents, a fourth-degree indictable offense, and possibly facing deportation.

Police allege that Agustine Flores-Flores attempted to use fake Social Security and resident alien cards to wire $800 to Mexico Monday night, according to Lt. James Battavio.

Western Union requires that two forms of identification be presented when wiring $1,000 or more.

However, under the federal Patriot and Bank Secrecy acts, Western Union agents, which are independent businesses, are "required to establish and implement their own compliance programs based on their perceived risks," according to Kristin Kelly, a Western Union spokeswoman.

IGA has set $800 as the minimum amount at which it requires two forms of identification, including a Social Security card, from its Western Union customers, according to the store's security director, Roy Garner.

So, had Flores-Flores attempted to send $799.99 back to Mexico, the IGA clerk never would have asked him to provide identification.

It was Garner who contacted city police when Flores-Flores presented the allegedly fake identification cards to a store clerk Monday evening.

"Anybody comes in here with fake anything, we report it," Garner said.

That includes fake driver's licenses and other government-issued identification cards, including Social Security cards, and counterfeit currency, Garner said.

Flores-Flores was lodged in Cumberland County Jail without bail on a detainer issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram issued a mandate in late August requiring the state's law enforcers to contact ICE following the arrests of suspected illegal immigrants charged with driving while intoxicated or any indictable offenses.

Jeff Pierce, an advocate for the Hispanic community in Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties, has a problem with Garner's decision to contact police.

"That's the question now. What, is everybody going to be an ICE agent now?" Pierce said on Wednesday.

"Obviously, the issue here is whether it's safe for the Hispanic community to do business and wire money from a business that is going to call police if someone is unable to provide identification," he added.

Pierce told the News one of Flores-Flores' relatives contacted him after he was arrested Monday night, concerned by the way the situation was handled by IGA.

Garner says he wouldn't have called police if Flores-Flores claimed he could not provide the necessary identification to complete the wire transfer. In fact, he probably never even would have been alerted by the clerk who was handling the transaction -- Flores-Flores likely would have just been sent on his way.

Garner added that until Monday night, he was not aware that local, county and state law enforcers have been reporting suspected immigration violations to ICE.

His goal was not to see Flores-Flores facing deportation.

"I'm just trying to get the fake IDs off the streets," he said.

Flores-Flores told police he bought the fake Social Security and resident alien cards for $50 on Sunday, according to Battavio.

After the still-unidentified seller took his photograph, Flores-Flores claims he had the identification cards in his hands in about a half-hour.

Police are investigating the source of the fake documents.

Anyone with information regarding the sale of fraudulent documents or identification cards is asked to contact police at 451-0033.

Anonymous tips can be left at tips@bpdnj.org or by asking a dispatcher for extension 123.

http://www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/local/ ... ml&coll=10