Thread: Fake ID shop busted

http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/S...90445468&path=

By LILLIAN KAFKA
lkafka@potomacnews.com
Wednesday, September 6, 2006

A fake ID operation that was manufacturing immigration green cards, Social Security cards and employment papers for more than 1,000 people is out of business, said Prince William County detectives.
Northern Virginia Gang Task Force Detective Brian Wing said this was the largest fake ID operation seen in the county so far, and the men involved had been selling fake employment documents for some time.

Police arrested three Woodbridge men on Saturday when they allegedly sold a fake Social Security card and an employment authorization card to a woman for $100, according to arrest warrants filed in Prince William General District Court.

At 8:45 p.m. detectives stopped a woman in the parking lot of Todos Supermarket in the 14400 block of Jefferson Davis Highway in the Prince William Plaza, said Officer John Bogert, Prince William police spokesman.

The woman had just purchased a fake Social Security card and an employment authorization card, so detectives looked for the men selling the cards, Bogert said.

Police found three men and arrested them for manufacturing and selling the false identity cards, Bogert said.

Police charged Jovani Hernandez-Garcia, 23; Carlos Lopez, 24; and Mario Peralto-Alatorre, 20, all of whom live at 14124 Essex Drive in Woodbridge, Bogert said.

Each was charged with one misdemeanor count, according to court records.

Wing said the trio should expect to see 10 more felony forgery charges handed down from the Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney.

The men were making between $100 and $200 per fake ID, which they made using computers, scanners, printers and a card maker, Wing said.

Police seized from the house on Essex Drive blank green cards, Social Security cards, resident alien cards, permanent resident cards, more than 1,000 Polaroid pictures, a photo cutter, heat sealers and holograms, Wing said.

Police also collected card makers and completed IDs from Texas, Tennessee, Ohio and every state in Mexico, Wing said.

He said the false documents were "shoddy" at best.

"There are things I've been taught to look for," Wing said. He pointed to a fake Social Security card. "The lines aren't straight."

He said his main focus is going to be to look for anyone else who might have been involved with the false ID operation.

"I'm looking for more people," Wing said. "If they're out there, I'm going to find them. I'm also going to look into the financial records to see where the money is going."

As for the people who were waiting for their false documents, Wing said he wasn't sure if police would be pursuing them.

"We don't know if these names and dates of birth are right," he said. "I'm not sure anything will happen to them or not."

Hernandez-Garcia, Lopez and Peralto-Alatorre were held in the Prince William-Manassas regional jail without bond. Their court hearing date is Nov. 14.

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If anyone doesn't think the illegals aren't organized...this is proof that they are, and operating like the very felon's they are. This is but one example of what lengths the illegal will travel to fool US authorities. My hat is off to the Prince William Detectives.

This problem is wide spread. It is a problem in Florida as well. This makes the news often when arrests are made and it is always Hispanics that get caught doing it.

That's only part of the problem! We also have this one to worry about!

The secret list of ID theft victims
Consumers could be warned, but U.S government isn't talking


By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 10:22 a.m. MT Jan 29, 2005
Linda Trevino, who lives in a Chicago suburb, applied for a job last year at a local Target department store, and was denied. The reason? She already worked there -- or rather, her Social Security number already worked there.
Follow-up investigation revealed the same Social Security number had been used to obtain work at 37 other employers, mostly by illegal immigrants trying to satisfy government requirements to get a job.
Trevino is hardly alone. MSNBC.com research and government reports suggest hundreds of thousands of American citizens are in the same spot -- unknowingly lending their identity to illegal immigrants so they can work. And while several government agencies and private corporations sometimes know whose Social Security numbers are being ripped off, they won't notify the victims. That is, until they come after the victims for back taxes or unpaid loans owed by the imposter.
It's a thorny problem that cuts to the heart of America's undocumented worker issue. Immigration opponents say it's another reason to shut the borders tight; immigrant rights groups point out that identity theft is an inevitable outcome of unfair labor laws that push foreign visitors deeper into the shadows.
‘People need to wake up to this problem. They are destroying people’s credit, Social Security benefits, and everything else.’

— Richard Hampassistant attorney general for state of Utah

Either way, immigrant imposters with the least nefarious of intentions -- simply a desire to work -- often unknowingly victimize the rightful Social Security number holders. The problem is compounded by how often ripped-off numbers are used. James Lee, chief marketing officer for private data collection firm ChoicePoint, said the average victim of immigrant-based identity theft sees their Social Security number shared about 30 times.
"The numbers get passed around a family, and around neighborhoods," he said.
"People need to wake up to this problem," said Richard Hamp, an assistant attorney general for the state of Utah who has prosecuted several cases involving stolen IDs and illegal immigrants. "They are destroying people's credit, Social Security benefits, and everything else. This problem has been ignored by the federal government, and it's enormous."
But could Trevino, and all the other victims, be warned by the government? After all, several agencies and corporations found her when they wanted her money. Until then, not a single one had bothered to warn her that someone else was using her Social Security number.
Melody Millet's husband Steve was the victim of immigrant identity theft. None of the agencies involved are trying to tackle the problem because they all benefit from it, as does corporate America, she said. The IRS and Social Security collect extra taxes, lenders sell more loans and employers get inexpensive workers. Fixing the problem and telling all the victimized consumers would upset the delicate apple cart that is America's immigration policy, she said.
"The government is forcing people to share identities because they want to provide cheap labor to corporate America," Melody Millet said.
An undocumented immigrant worker managed to use Steve Millet's Social Security number for more than 10 years before the incident was discovered. Millet said the imposter managed to obtain a dozen credit cards, buy a car, and even a house using the stolen number and his own name. All the while, that imposter paid taxes, paid into Social Security, and took out loans using the stolen Social Security Number. All of those agencies had a record of the abused SSN; none bothered to tell Steve Millet.
"You can't find out except by accident," Melody Millet said. "They are not required to notify us. No one is required to notify you. The way it sits now, our lives were ruined. We will never have again a normal financial life."

I have a problem with the following statement quoted in the above post:

Either way, immigrant imposters with the least nefarious of intentions -- simply a desire to work -- often unknowingly victimize the rightful Social Security number holders.

Why excuse these criminals? They know damned well that they are stealing someone else's ID, and they know damned well the sort of problems the theft will cause the victim. I'm about sick and tired of hearing all this "good intentions" nonsense from IA apologists!

And while several government agencies and private corporations sometimes know whose Social Security numbers are being ripped off, they won't notify the victims. That is, until they come after the victims for back taxes or unpaid loans owed by the imposter.

If this isn't concrete proof that our government is working AGAINST American citizens, I don't know what is. That the SSA knows whose Social Security numbers are being stolen, yet are not compelled in the least to notify those victims, is absolutely reprehensible.

Immigration opponents say it's another reason to shut the borders tight; immigrant rights groups point out that identity theft is an inevitable outcome of unfair labor laws that push foreign visitors deeper into the shadows.

OH PULEEEEEZE!

I hear ya CG. They are going out of their way to excuse almost all criminal behavior associated with illegal immigration.

with the least nefarious of intentions

I wish all the "least nefarious" crimes committed by illegals would happen to this idiot.

Wow, I didn't know this was a such a big problem.

I remember reading where two hispanics were refused jobs because the SSN they were using came back to another name already employed. As I remember, those two were illegal and now suing the company for refusing them employment...and will probably win!

I have a problem with anyone using fake ID or SSN. Again, they are criminals after having crossed the border without permission, now, they should be considered felons for theft identity.

Anyone else out there run acrossed these types of situations?

Ridiculous, here they catch criminals in the act, and yet they still try to excuse their criminal behaviors.

Nice to know that I would not be notified until the criminally incurred debt came due.

They should come to los Angeles, and bust a few people on Alvarado St in front of Mccarther Park, The fake IDs are sold publicly on the street, and I mean every street corner, The criminal stand there holding and ID with one hand and pointing at it with the other hand trying to grab the attention of the drivers passing through, looking to buy fake papers.
Let me tell you they get the attention of everybody passing by except the attention of the immigration officials or the LAPD wchich is forbidden to deal with any immigration matters according to special order 40.
Yes I'm not kidding IDs are sold Publicly on the streets of Los Angeles, but hey this part of the country in becoming a sas pool and a 3rd world country within our country.

It is too bad that LAPD will not go after those selling fake IDs. The department has been through so much racist stuff that they probably do not want to touch the hot potato. Also some look at who is heading the department. Are the higher ups Hispanic?