Phony Document Rings Broken Up

Alleged California Ringleader Arrested

11/07/11

It just got a little harder to get a phony driver’s license or Social Security card in the U.S.

On November 3, more than 300 law enforcement officers from a variety of federal and local agencies executed dozens of search warrants and arrests involving fraudulent document rings operating in California, Illinois, and Texas that reached into a number of other states and Mexico.

One of the main targets of the investigation was Alejandro Morales Serrano, who is believed to be a key player in this criminal conspiracy. Serrano and a number of his associates allegedly manufactured and sold the raw materials used to create the phony documents—like sheets of plastic laminates, monochrome card printer ribbons, hard plastic cards, and magnetic card reader/writer machines. Serrano was also one of those arrested during the law enforcement sweep.

The indictment alleges that the false documents were created on a large scale in California, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, and Michigan.

[b]In addition to U.S. driver’s licenses and Social Security cards, these documents also included U.S. Permanent Residency cards (a.k.a., “green cardsâ€