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Woman accused of selling bogus immigration cards
The federal government alleges that the Providence woman sold the fake resident-alien and Social Security cards between December and March.


01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, May 13, 2006
BY GREGORY SMITH
Journal Staff Writer


PROVIDENCE -- Immigration agents have arrested Julia Pensoy-Calel, 51, and accused her of selling counterfeit resident-alien and Social Security cards.

Pensoy-Calel charged $125 each for a two-card set, according to federal authorities, which included one resident-alien card and one Social Security card. A resident-alien card allows the holder to permanently live, work and travel in the United States without becoming a citizen.

It is commonly known as a green card, but they are now white.

Federal immigration authorities consider the falsification of identity and immigration documents to be a significant and growing problem with implications for national security, the ability of the police to separate criminals from innocent people, and for average citizens to protect themselves from identity theft.

Combating the use of false documents by illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States is a priority for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the ICE. The agency says millions of people have offered employers and others Social Security cards with numbers that do not match their names.

"We do a booming business here in Providence" in snaring people who show phony documents and falsely claim to be U.S. citizens, said David Riccio, agent in charge of ICE's Providence office.

"It's a growing problem [nationally], and it's tough to get our hands around it," he said yesterday.

Robert Clark Corrente, U.S. Attorney, and Matthew Etre, acting special agent in charge of the ICE's Boston office, announced the arrest of Pensoy-Calel yesterday.

A team of federal agents and police officers went to Pensoy-Calel's house, on Newark Street in the Valley neighborhood, on Thursday with a search warrant and arrested her. The U.S. Attorney withheld her exact address to protect her privacy.

Pensoy-Calel was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Martin on a charge of transferring false identification documents for illegal use. Martin set surety bond at $5,000. Thomas Connell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney, said he wasn't sure whether Pensoy-Calel gained her release by posting bond.

Given that the charge is a felony, it is subject to review by a federal grand jury.

The government alleges that Pensoy-Calel sold the fake cards on three occasions between December and March. The buyer would give her a photograph for the resident-alien card, and Pensoy-Calel would insert that photo into the card, according to the U.S. Attorney. She would arbitrarily choose serial numbers to put on both the resident-alien and Social Security cards.

ICE agents monitored conversations in the sale of the cards. In one of the conversations, the government alleged, a potential buyer asked Pensoy-Calel whether she could make one of the new higher-security resident-alien cards, and the suspect initially said yes, but it would cost $225.

Later, she said she could not make one of the higher-security cards because it is too difficult to reproduce the paper that is used in the cards, the government said. The newest resident-alien card bears a hologram and other security features to make counterfeiting more difficult.

Asked how the ICE became interested in Pensoy-Calel, Connell said that information is contained in an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against her. The affidavit was not immediately available.

The equipment she used to produce the cards is a subject of an investigation, according to Connell.

There is nothing on the public record, Connell said, regarding Pensoy-Calel's occupation, personal background or citizenship.

The ICE is investigating the case in cooperation with the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Providence police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose is assigned as prosecutor.

Riccio said that other important documents that are frequently falsified are visas, birth certificates and driver's licenses.

False Puerto Rican birth certificates are a favorite, especially among citizens of the Dominican Republic, because people born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens, Riccio said. They try to parlay the birth certificates into U.S. passports.

In March, ICE agents arrested four illegal immigrants who were employees of the AID Maintenance Co., of Pawtucket, and were working at naval facilities in Newport. Their access to such secure property is an example of how illegal immigrants using phony documents present national security implications, Riccio said.

The ICE also sent notices to AID Maintenance, informing the company that 143 of its approximately 275 employees were ineligible to work in the United States.

Those who peddle illegal documents usually sell them in a package, according to Riccio.

And the furnishing of false documents "is part of the whole smuggling package" when illegal immigrants come into the United States, Riccio added. They enable illegal immigrants to work, open bank accounts and make their way in society, he said.

"You have some very intricate schemes going on out there" involving identity fraud, including people entering into false marriages for money in order to get into the country, Riccio said.

If someone who creates a false Social Security card uses a living person's Social Security numbers, that can lead to the innocent person being defrauded, he pointed out.

gsmith@projo.com / (401) 277-7334