CALIFORNIA
UNDER LA RAZA MEXICAN OCCUPATION IS NOW THE CAPITAL FOR MEXICAN IDENTITY THEFT
“Identity theft is
soaring in California, and street gangs are angling for a piece of the action.”
--- LOS ANGELES TIMES
Gangs get into identity theft
Easy methods and the
availability of tools have attracted Crips, the Mexican Mafia and other groups,
experts say.
By Joseph Menn
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Identity theft is soaring in California, and street gangs are angling for a piece of the action.
Recent cases point to an interest in identity fraud by organizations as diverse as a Long Beach chapter of the Crips, the Armenian Power gang and the prison-based Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials and fraud experts.
The trend among criminals better known for violence and drug trafficking goes against type. Many people think of identity thieves as computer hackers of the sort named last week in a major international case centering on retailers including TJ Maxx, whose customers' credit cards were scooped up during electronic intrusions.
But the basics of the crime are so easy to master -- and the tools for mass fraud so widely available -- that it has become attractive to traditional street gangs. Their role, which contributed to a 31% increase in identity-theft complaints to local authorities last year, is highlighted in a study of California identity fraud scheduled for release today by Identity Theft 911, a consulting firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Citing previously released figures from the Federal Trade Commission, the study estimates that 1.5 million Californians became identity theft victims in 2007, making the state's per-capita rate second only to that of Arizona.
Credit card fraud is the most common form of the crime in California, as it is in the nation.
Employment-related fraud is No. 2. In California, that category tops the U.S. rate, which the study attributes to undocumented workers using stolen Social Security numbers. The value of that nine-digit identifier has risen, because new laws are making it riskier for businesses to employ illegal immigrants.
Social Security numbers are at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, spokesman Russ Heimerich said Monday.
According to Heimerich, the agency is probing a former employee, Rachel Dumbrique. In June, on her last day at the agency, the personnel specialist sent the names and Social Security numbers of 5,000 people on the state payroll to a personal e-mail account on Yahoo.
Dumbrique told the department that she hadn't realized the Social Security numbers were included in the file. But investigators are alarmed because she is married to Edward Dumbrique, an imprisoned member of the Mexican Mafia.
Dumbrique, who now works at the California Department of Mental Health, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, a ring connected to the Long Beach Insane Crips used a check-cashing scheme to steal more than $88,000 from multiple branches of the Washington Mutual thrift, said Kathryn Showers, a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.
In a series of associated criminal cases, investigators said 15 conspirators used counterfeit checks and money orders and persuaded people to deposit the bogus documents and then withdraw cash. A similar plot took in more than $150,000 from Bank of America branches in Northridge, Granada Hills and elsewhere, court filings show.
Searches in March 2006 turned up guns, computers and paperwork for building false identities, and Showers said the group paid tellers to approve withdrawals they shouldn't have. Several ringleaders have pleaded guilty.
"Theft of identifying information is going on at all kinds of levels," Showers said in an interview. "Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Southern California."
A May criminal case against a group affiliated with Armenian Power accuses five people of raiding the accounts of people who merely used the wrong ATMs at the wrong times.
This year, the men put false keypads on top of legitimate ATMs to record passwords and later withdrew money from 120 accounts, according to the complaint.
Targeted ATMs included Wells Fargo machines at a Vons supermarket on Reseda Boulevard, a Ralphs on North La Brea Avenue and a Stater Bros. in Walnut.
Some of the men face as many as 90 criminal charges.
Gang members sometimes recruit corporate insiders, said Linda Foley, co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a San Diego nonprofit group that helped with the study. They visit restaurants and other hangouts, listening for people complaining about money troubles, then offer cash in exchange for information they can use in identity theft.
She said gang members need to do such things because they often have trouble finding a job and having the opportunity to orchestrate an inside job on their own. "It can be hard to get hired when there's a swastika tattooed on your head," Foley said.
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Identity theft is soaring in California, and street gangs are angling for a piece of the action.
Recent cases point to an interest in identity fraud by organizations as diverse as a Long Beach chapter of the Crips, the Armenian Power gang and the prison-based Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials and fraud experts.
The trend among criminals better known for violence and drug trafficking goes against type. Many people think of identity thieves as computer hackers of the sort named last week in a major international case centering on retailers including TJ Maxx, whose customers' credit cards were scooped up during electronic intrusions.
But the basics of the crime are so easy to master -- and the tools for mass fraud so widely available -- that it has become attractive to traditional street gangs. Their role, which contributed to a 31% increase in identity-theft complaints to local authorities last year, is highlighted in a study of California identity fraud scheduled for release today by Identity Theft 911, a consulting firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Citing previously released figures from the Federal Trade Commission, the study estimates that 1.5 million Californians became identity theft victims in 2007, making the state's per-capita rate second only to that of Arizona.
Credit card fraud is the most common form of the crime in California, as it is in the nation.
Employment-related fraud is No. 2. In California, that category tops the U.S. rate, which the study attributes to undocumented workers using stolen Social Security numbers. The value of that nine-digit identifier has risen, because new laws are making it riskier for businesses to employ illegal immigrants.
Social Security numbers are at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, spokesman Russ Heimerich said Monday.
According to Heimerich, the agency is probing a former employee, Rachel Dumbrique. In June, on her last day at the agency, the personnel specialist sent the names and Social Security numbers of 5,000 people on the state payroll to a personal e-mail account on Yahoo.
Dumbrique told the department that she hadn't realized the Social Security numbers were included in the file. But investigators are alarmed because she is married to Edward Dumbrique, an imprisoned member of the Mexican Mafia.
Dumbrique, who now works at the California Department of Mental Health, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, a ring connected to the Long Beach Insane Crips used a check-cashing scheme to steal more than $88,000 from multiple branches of the Washington Mutual thrift, said Kathryn Showers, a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County.
In a series of associated criminal cases, investigators said 15 conspirators used counterfeit checks and money orders and persuaded people to deposit the bogus documents and then withdraw cash. A similar plot took in more than $150,000 from Bank of America branches in Northridge, Granada Hills and elsewhere, court filings show.
Searches in March 2006 turned up guns, computers and paperwork for building false identities, and Showers said the group paid tellers to approve withdrawals they shouldn't have. Several ringleaders have pleaded guilty.
"Theft of identifying information is going on at all kinds of levels," Showers said in an interview. "Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Southern California."
A May criminal case against a group affiliated with Armenian Power accuses five people of raiding the accounts of people who merely used the wrong ATMs at the wrong times.
This year, the men put false keypads on top of legitimate ATMs to record passwords and later withdrew money from 120 accounts, according to the complaint.
Targeted ATMs included Wells Fargo machines at a Vons supermarket on Reseda Boulevard, a Ralphs on North La Brea Avenue and a Stater Bros. in Walnut.
Some of the men face as many as 90 criminal charges.
Gang members sometimes recruit corporate insiders, said Linda Foley, co-founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a San Diego nonprofit group that helped with the study. They visit restaurants and other hangouts, listening for people complaining about money troubles, then offer cash in exchange for information they can use in identity theft.
She said gang members need to do such things because they often have trouble finding a job and having the opportunity to orchestrate an inside job on their own. "It can be hard to get hired when there's a swastika tattooed on your head," Foley said.
*
WHO IS FIGHTING MEXICAN TERRORIST
ON OUR OPEN AND UNDEFENDED BORDERS? NOT OBAMA!
TEN MOST WANTED CRIMINALS
IN CALIFORNIA ARE MEXICANS!
ACCORDING TO CA ATTORNEY
GEN KAMALA HARRIS, A LA RAZA DEM FOR OPEN BORDERS, NEARLY HALF OF ALL MURDERS
IN CA ARE NOW BY MEXICAN GANGS!
“This organization is considered by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as one
of the largest internationally, with connections in Central America and Mexico.”
*
THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT STATES THAT
HAVE A LARGER POPULATION THAN LOS ANGELES COUNTY. L.A.C. IS UNDER MEXICAN
OCCUPATION. IN LOS ANGELES, 47% OF THOSE WITH A JOB IS AN ILLEGAL USING A
STOLEN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER! THIS SAME COUNTY PAYS OUT $50 MILLION PER MONTH
IN WELFARE TO ILLEGALS AND HAS A TAX-FREE MEXICAN UNDERGROUND ECONOMY
CALCULATED TO BE $2 BILLION PER YEAR.
AS OBAMA AND THE LA RAZA DEMS WORK
FOR NON-TRANSPARENT BIT BY BIT AMNESTY, YOU WON’T EVER HEAR THEM TALK ABOUT THE
STAGGERING MEXICAN CRIME WAVE THAT SWEEPS THE NATION ALONG WITH THE MEXICAN
INVASION AND OCCUPATION!
THE LA RAZA DEMS WILL NEVER STOP
HISPANDERING FOR THE ILLEGALS’ ILLEGAL VOTES!
GET YOUR FREE MEXICAN GANG
PRODUCED ID HERE
MEXICAN CLAN OF DOCUMENT
FORGERS OPERATES IN 33 STATES
This story was first broken on the
Wake Up America Talk Show "A Minuteman Project Chapter" Hosted by
Steve Eichler.
A Mexican clan of document forgers
operates in 33 states, including Illinois. In Chicago, their annual take is
around $2.5 million, and their main collaborators are gang members. Los Angeles
- In 1848 what came to be called the Gold Rush started. People came to
California from all over the world to seek their fortunes. The idea of getting
rich without much effort was the main reason they left their countries and
headed for the promised land to seek the precious metal. And so did Pedro
Castorena-Ibarra and Manuel Leija-Sánchez, albeit 138 years later. In 1987 they
found their goldmine in California. At that time the United States Congress had
just passed a law giving amnesty to the undocumented who were living in the
country. This was when the boom in forged documents got going. Everybody wanted
to get the paperwork and, whatever the cost, have the documentation to show
length of stay in the country so they could work legally. Pedro and Manuel took
advantage of the situation and made document forgery into a highly profitable
family business. Authorities estimate that this organization generates earnings
of $300 million annually. The Castorena and Leija families, according to
reports by the federal government, run a criminal organization dedicated to the
production and distribution of fake documents. It is a criminal network
extending into 33 states across the country. Its main leaders are Pedro
Castorena and Manuel Leija, both in prison, but still in control of the cartel.
The organization is run from their native Mexico by their parents, Alfonso
Castorena and Natividad Leija, according to a federal agent involved in the
investigation, ongoing for five years, which last month led to the arrest of
Pedro Castorena in Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco. In terms of
financial organization and operation, the organization has been compared to the
Arellano Félix cartel in drug running and the Peralta-Rodríguez brothers´
organization in the human trafficking business. Specializing in forged ID
cards, mainly the residency and work permit document called "green
cards," the Castorena-Leija cartel is not above activities associated with
the drug trade and human trafficking "coyotes." Suad Leija, Manuel
Leija´s stepdaughter, described in an interview the secrets of the organization
, disclosing that it is also involved with human trafficking gangs which bring
people across the United States border illegally. "They also have
connections with the Monterrey gang. Pedro knew the most about those people,
and after him, my stepfather," Suad commented.
This organization is considered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as one of the largest internationally, with connections in Central America and Mexico.
Friends from their childhood days, Pedro and Manuel became so good at the counterfeit document business that they used other identities, with which they managed for quitea while to outwit whoever was hot on their heels. They came to the US almost 20 years ago. Los Angeles was their cradle, where they first "went into business." Later they expanded to Chicago, where Manuel Leija ran the show. Little by little, they established themselves in New York, and then in Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Denver, among other cities. US Attorney Bill Leone has described this organization as a large-scale threat to national security, as it provides tools to criminals to evade justice. "These tools help criminals hide their identity and gain access to places where they should not be allowed. They facilitate other forms of identity theft," Leoni declared, revealing this organization´s operations. "They serve as a store for not just illegal immigrants but also for drug smugglers, money launderers and potential terrorists." For ICE Director of Investigations Marcy Forman, the Castorena-Leija organization, which can provide forged documents to terrorists intent on violating national security, is one of the largest and most sophisticated counterfeiter networks. Los Angeles City Prosecutor Arturo Martínez, who has prosecuted several cases of forged documents, explained that the proliferation of counterfeit documentation leads to the crime of identity theft and is a national security problem while generating multi-million dollar losses to the economy. It concerns a problem which goes beyond just getting a fake document to show proof of age for getting into a bar, Martínez explained. "It´s a highly complex problem, not just the crime of forging a document, but because other crimes are committed. There are criminals who get these documents to hide their identity, to get through airport security or to commit fraud." In the year 2004, according to the prosecutor, there were around one million victims of identity theft registered in California and ten million across the entire country. © La Opinión Counterfeiter´s stepdaughter puts family on display Suad Leija doesn´t care if she unmasks her family. This 22-year-old young woman feels that national security is more important. Her stepfather is Manuel Leija-Sánchez, identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as one of the ringleaders of a band of document ounterfeiters. She confirmed this. In recent months, Suad has worked as informant for the federal government. Investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been able to clear up several questions. Last month, together with Mexico´s Federal Investigations Agency (AFI, per its Spanish initials), managed to arrest Pedro Castorena in Guadalajara, one of America´s most wanted for the crime of counterfeiting documents. Pedro Castorena, aged 43 years, and Manuel Leija, aged 39, godparents of each other´s children, are both in jail. The former is in the process of extradition from Mexico; the latter is close to completing a one-year sentence. They are the ringleaders of a band of counterfeiters operating in 33 states across the country, according to Suad, whose explanation is backed up by the ICE investigation. From somewhere in the state of Georgia, Suad Leija offered a telephone interview to La Opinión. Her first words were, "My stepfather Manuel killed my real father in order to marry my mother." At that time, she said, she was a baby. They were living in Mexico City. When Manuel got her mother, they moved to Los Angeles, California in 1987. Suad was two years old. Together with Pedro Castorena, Manuel Leija and a few other relatives got started in the counterfeiting business. "My job was counting the money. I put it in envelopes, making envelopes of a thousand, two thousand, five thousand dollars." Suad remembered her work as a child, for which she was paid fifty dollars. In just a few years, the Castorenas and the Leijas managed to amass a fortune. In Mexico they have chains of motels, bars and restaurants,the result of money laundering. "When we arrived in Los Angeles, we lived in Pedro´s apartment - he was called `Perico´ [parrot] - and with his wife, Julieta León," the young woman explained. "That´s where they got started. Pedro and my stepfather sold documents and counted the money on weekends. That was my job, counting the money." In the early 90´s, the business now flourishing, Manuel took charge of the Chicago market, where they were expanding. The whole family moved together. "My stepfather took the Chicago area. My uncles, Julio and Pedro Leija, shared the other cities. In Chicago, my stepfather took in 2.5 million dollars a year," Suad commented. The young woman assured that, in spite of being in jail, Pedro Castorena and Manuel Leija have kept control of the organization. Federal agents consulted by La Opinión indicated that this organization has a few hundred people operating across the country in various cells. From Mexico, where the money is laundered in motels, bars, brothels and gyms, Suad said the business is controlled by Alfonso Castorena (in Guadalajara), Pedro´s father, and by Natividad Leija-Herrera (in Tlanepantla), Manuel´s father. A report in the Library of Congress, called Organized Crime and Terrorist Activities in Mexico, 1999-2002, points out that the founders of this organization, based in Guadalajara, are Alfonso Castorena and Juan San Germán, who have members of the Latin Kings gang as collaborators in the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. In Las Vegas and Los Angeles, members of the 18th Street gang have also been linked to this organization. Suad fears for her life. She says she has already been threatened, so she moves from one place to another, under protection from the federal government. And for certain the Castorenas and Leijas have money and power aplenty. Authorities estimate that every year their document counterfeiting generates $300 million. "I don´t know how they figure tha amount, but my stepfather is always the first one to have the latest model car. He is quite the showoff in Mexico, although in the United States he is ever so humble, appearing to be a low-level worker so as to not call attention, but there in Mexico he´s quite the opposite," Suad said. Manuel Leija used to put on huge, rowdy parties in his parents´ home in the Jiménez Cantú section of the city of Tlanepantla in the State of Mexico. He liked drinking sprees and to have the band Los Tigres del Norte play "El Jefe de Jefes" [The Boss of Bosses] for him. With a glass of Azteca de Oro brandy in his hand, wearing a Versace shirt, fine boots and jewels on his neck, Manuel would sing noisily. He would say he was The Boss of Bosses. While Manuel lingers in jail, every third month his brothers Pedro, Julio, Elías and José Luis take turns with the business in the United States, Suad remarked. "That is, everybody gets a chance to make money. They take turns with the business, each one putting together his sales team, and then my aunts take charge of handling and managing the money." Why inform on your family? "For me, it´s like they never were. I am not of their blood. When I was little, they never treated me like I was part of the real family. Besides, it doesn´t matter to them if one of the documents they forge falls into the hands of a terrorist...All that matter to them is money."
This organization is considered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a branch of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as one of the largest internationally, with connections in Central America and Mexico.
Friends from their childhood days, Pedro and Manuel became so good at the counterfeit document business that they used other identities, with which they managed for quitea while to outwit whoever was hot on their heels. They came to the US almost 20 years ago. Los Angeles was their cradle, where they first "went into business." Later they expanded to Chicago, where Manuel Leija ran the show. Little by little, they established themselves in New York, and then in Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Denver, among other cities. US Attorney Bill Leone has described this organization as a large-scale threat to national security, as it provides tools to criminals to evade justice. "These tools help criminals hide their identity and gain access to places where they should not be allowed. They facilitate other forms of identity theft," Leoni declared, revealing this organization´s operations. "They serve as a store for not just illegal immigrants but also for drug smugglers, money launderers and potential terrorists." For ICE Director of Investigations Marcy Forman, the Castorena-Leija organization, which can provide forged documents to terrorists intent on violating national security, is one of the largest and most sophisticated counterfeiter networks. Los Angeles City Prosecutor Arturo Martínez, who has prosecuted several cases of forged documents, explained that the proliferation of counterfeit documentation leads to the crime of identity theft and is a national security problem while generating multi-million dollar losses to the economy. It concerns a problem which goes beyond just getting a fake document to show proof of age for getting into a bar, Martínez explained. "It´s a highly complex problem, not just the crime of forging a document, but because other crimes are committed. There are criminals who get these documents to hide their identity, to get through airport security or to commit fraud." In the year 2004, according to the prosecutor, there were around one million victims of identity theft registered in California and ten million across the entire country. © La Opinión Counterfeiter´s stepdaughter puts family on display Suad Leija doesn´t care if she unmasks her family. This 22-year-old young woman feels that national security is more important. Her stepfather is Manuel Leija-Sánchez, identified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as one of the ringleaders of a band of document ounterfeiters. She confirmed this. In recent months, Suad has worked as informant for the federal government. Investigators from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been able to clear up several questions. Last month, together with Mexico´s Federal Investigations Agency (AFI, per its Spanish initials), managed to arrest Pedro Castorena in Guadalajara, one of America´s most wanted for the crime of counterfeiting documents. Pedro Castorena, aged 43 years, and Manuel Leija, aged 39, godparents of each other´s children, are both in jail. The former is in the process of extradition from Mexico; the latter is close to completing a one-year sentence. They are the ringleaders of a band of counterfeiters operating in 33 states across the country, according to Suad, whose explanation is backed up by the ICE investigation. From somewhere in the state of Georgia, Suad Leija offered a telephone interview to La Opinión. Her first words were, "My stepfather Manuel killed my real father in order to marry my mother." At that time, she said, she was a baby. They were living in Mexico City. When Manuel got her mother, they moved to Los Angeles, California in 1987. Suad was two years old. Together with Pedro Castorena, Manuel Leija and a few other relatives got started in the counterfeiting business. "My job was counting the money. I put it in envelopes, making envelopes of a thousand, two thousand, five thousand dollars." Suad remembered her work as a child, for which she was paid fifty dollars. In just a few years, the Castorenas and the Leijas managed to amass a fortune. In Mexico they have chains of motels, bars and restaurants,the result of money laundering. "When we arrived in Los Angeles, we lived in Pedro´s apartment - he was called `Perico´ [parrot] - and with his wife, Julieta León," the young woman explained. "That´s where they got started. Pedro and my stepfather sold documents and counted the money on weekends. That was my job, counting the money." In the early 90´s, the business now flourishing, Manuel took charge of the Chicago market, where they were expanding. The whole family moved together. "My stepfather took the Chicago area. My uncles, Julio and Pedro Leija, shared the other cities. In Chicago, my stepfather took in 2.5 million dollars a year," Suad commented. The young woman assured that, in spite of being in jail, Pedro Castorena and Manuel Leija have kept control of the organization. Federal agents consulted by La Opinión indicated that this organization has a few hundred people operating across the country in various cells. From Mexico, where the money is laundered in motels, bars, brothels and gyms, Suad said the business is controlled by Alfonso Castorena (in Guadalajara), Pedro´s father, and by Natividad Leija-Herrera (in Tlanepantla), Manuel´s father. A report in the Library of Congress, called Organized Crime and Terrorist Activities in Mexico, 1999-2002, points out that the founders of this organization, based in Guadalajara, are Alfonso Castorena and Juan San Germán, who have members of the Latin Kings gang as collaborators in the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. In Las Vegas and Los Angeles, members of the 18th Street gang have also been linked to this organization. Suad fears for her life. She says she has already been threatened, so she moves from one place to another, under protection from the federal government. And for certain the Castorenas and Leijas have money and power aplenty. Authorities estimate that every year their document counterfeiting generates $300 million. "I don´t know how they figure tha amount, but my stepfather is always the first one to have the latest model car. He is quite the showoff in Mexico, although in the United States he is ever so humble, appearing to be a low-level worker so as to not call attention, but there in Mexico he´s quite the opposite," Suad said. Manuel Leija used to put on huge, rowdy parties in his parents´ home in the Jiménez Cantú section of the city of Tlanepantla in the State of Mexico. He liked drinking sprees and to have the band Los Tigres del Norte play "El Jefe de Jefes" [The Boss of Bosses] for him. With a glass of Azteca de Oro brandy in his hand, wearing a Versace shirt, fine boots and jewels on his neck, Manuel would sing noisily. He would say he was The Boss of Bosses. While Manuel lingers in jail, every third month his brothers Pedro, Julio, Elías and José Luis take turns with the business in the United States, Suad remarked. "That is, everybody gets a chance to make money. They take turns with the business, each one putting together his sales team, and then my aunts take charge of handling and managing the money." Why inform on your family? "For me, it´s like they never were. I am not of their blood. When I was little, they never treated me like I was part of the real family. Besides, it doesn´t matter to them if one of the documents they forge falls into the hands of a terrorist...All that matter to them is money."
A CRAIGSLIST
POSTER:
Illegal
Aliens Turn To Identity Theft ..................... (Wait Till Victims Try To
Retire......!!!)
Jan. 8, 2008
WICHITA, Kan.
When U.S. Air Force veteran Marcos Miranda had his identity
stolen, he went from being a valued customer and employee to a government
statistic — one of thousands of identity theft victims caught up each year in
the crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Identity theft has been a growing worry in the United States, but a rise in federal prosecutions of immigrants offers a new wrinkle on the problem. As better systems are developed for verifying employment, illegal immigrants are assuming the names and government-issued ID numbers of Americans like Miranda to thwart detection at workplaces, get driver's licenses and obtain credit.
Miranda first learned someone else was using his identity in 2000 when he was arrested on a warrant for unpaid traffic tickets at the border after a visit to relatives in Mexico. The 24-year-old Texas man was released after paying a $340 fine for violations he never incurred. Although his money was eventually returned, his nightmare was just beginning.
The most common start to identity theft is for the perpetrator get hold of someone's Social Security number, which is part of the system used to record people's earnings for federal retirement benefits. Once a person takes a job in the U.S., the first thing his employer will likely ask for is his or her Social Security number.
In Miranda's case, that's why he has gotten repeated letters from the federal tax officials demanding thousands of dollars in back taxes for wages paid to someone using his name and Social Security number to work at a pork slaughterhouse in Holton, Kansas. Miranda watched his once-high credit rating plummet as creditors reported unpaid bills incurred by others.
"Even though I am Hispanic, I am against illegal immigration," Miranda said. "Even though a lot of them come to work, there are always bad apples. (Identity theft) has really made my perspective ... negative about immigration."
A Mexican national accused of stealing Miranda's identity pleaded guilty last month to one count of using fraudulent documents in a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Joel Rojas-Morales, 27, will be sentenced in March.
"That way he knows crime doesn't pay in America. Maybe in Mexico it does. But here, it may take some time, but the long arm of the law catches up to you," Miranda said.
Chris Joseph, the defense attorney representing Rojas-Morales, is sympathetic to identity theft victims like Miranda.
"I have no reason to doubt that is absolutely true. There is no question he is a victim of identity theft," Joseph said. *
Identity theft has been a growing worry in the United States, but a rise in federal prosecutions of immigrants offers a new wrinkle on the problem. As better systems are developed for verifying employment, illegal immigrants are assuming the names and government-issued ID numbers of Americans like Miranda to thwart detection at workplaces, get driver's licenses and obtain credit.
Miranda first learned someone else was using his identity in 2000 when he was arrested on a warrant for unpaid traffic tickets at the border after a visit to relatives in Mexico. The 24-year-old Texas man was released after paying a $340 fine for violations he never incurred. Although his money was eventually returned, his nightmare was just beginning.
The most common start to identity theft is for the perpetrator get hold of someone's Social Security number, which is part of the system used to record people's earnings for federal retirement benefits. Once a person takes a job in the U.S., the first thing his employer will likely ask for is his or her Social Security number.
In Miranda's case, that's why he has gotten repeated letters from the federal tax officials demanding thousands of dollars in back taxes for wages paid to someone using his name and Social Security number to work at a pork slaughterhouse in Holton, Kansas. Miranda watched his once-high credit rating plummet as creditors reported unpaid bills incurred by others.
"Even though I am Hispanic, I am against illegal immigration," Miranda said. "Even though a lot of them come to work, there are always bad apples. (Identity theft) has really made my perspective ... negative about immigration."
A Mexican national accused of stealing Miranda's identity pleaded guilty last month to one count of using fraudulent documents in a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Joel Rojas-Morales, 27, will be sentenced in March.
"That way he knows crime doesn't pay in America. Maybe in Mexico it does. But here, it may take some time, but the long arm of the law catches up to you," Miranda said.
Chris Joseph, the defense attorney representing Rojas-Morales, is sympathetic to identity theft victims like Miranda.
"I have no reason to doubt that is absolutely true. There is no question he is a victim of identity theft," Joseph said. *
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
An illegal immigration link to identity theft
A
massive sweep at Swift meat-processing plants this week could lead officials to
'document rings.'
By
Faye Bowers | Correspondent of The Christian
Science Monitor
PHOENIX
The
latest roundup of illegal immigrants caught working in the US with fraudulent
identifications - the largest single such work-site action ever - raises new questions
about a link between illegal immigration and the growing problem of identity
theft.
Federal
raids Tuesday at six meat-processing plants owned by Swift & Co. in six
states resulted in the arrests of 1,282 people for immigration violation - with
65 also charged with identify theft or other criminal charges.
The
investigation is continuing, say officials with US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), with the hope that some of the newly arrested workers will
lead law officers to "document rings" that provided the stolen
identities. The 10-month operation began in February, when ICE learned that
"large numbers" of undocumented immigrants might be using Social
Security numbers assigned to US citizens.
"We
believe that the genuine identities of possibly hundreds of US citizens are
being stolen or hijacked by criminal organizations and sold to illegal aliens
in order to gain unlawful employment in this country," said Julie Myers,
ICE assistant secretary. She called it "a disturbing front in the war
against illegal immigration."
The
fraudulent document business has long been a thorn in the side of immigration
officials, making it hard for them to crack down on companies for knowingly
hiring illegal workers. Indeed, even as ICE agents conducted Tuesday's raids at
the Swift plants, a joint task force in Arizona - made up of state, federal,
and local law- enforcement officials - was arresting 12 suspects and seized
numerous fake drivers' licenses, resident alien cards, Social Security cards,
and vehicle titles.
Metropolitan
Phoenix, a major immigrant-smuggling hub, has become a place where the false ID
business is thriving, law-enforcement officers say. They estimate that 1,000 to
1,500 "coyotes," or smugglers, stash thousands of undocumented
immigrants in drop houses throughout the valley, where they wait until false
identification and transportation can be arranged to places as far away as
Seattle and Miami.
"I
would say that 90 percent of the transactions dealing with the sale of human
cargo, those smuggled across the [Arizona] border, occur right here,"
Angel Rascon-Rubio, an ICE special agent, testified at a federal court hearing
last year.
The
Phoenix area is ideal for smugglers, officials say, because it is fairly easy
to reach from Mexico but far enough from the border to avoid border patrol
enforcement. It has broad access to the rest of the country via air and car.
Moreover, the large Hispanic neighborhoods provide cover for drop houses and
new immigrants.
On
one of Phoenix's quiet residential streets lined with stucco tract homes live
two men who came to the US illegally but gained legal status - along with some
3 million others - under the federal 1986 amnesty program. David and Raul, who
will give only first names, are in the business of helping newly arrived
illegal immigrants acquire fake documents.
They
are not part of an organized crime family, they say - just part of a network of
established immigrants who help others attain what they've achieved. They are,
in effect, the go-betweens from those who bring the immigrants and those who
make the fake ID papers - a service they say they provide for free.
"A
coyote will call and say, 'Does your boss need more workers?' or 'Can you help
get this person some papers?' " says David, whose main job is as a
landscaper. "It's easy. I'll have a number for a [document] guy and call
him. We'll meet at the major intersection out here, say, in half an hour. I
give him $50 or $100, whatever he's asking, a photo of the person, and a
name," he adds. "About 45 minutes later, he'll call me to come meet
him on the same corner with the papers - a Social Security card and a green
card."
If
that won't work, David adds, he drives to the nearest Food City, a chain that
specializes in Hispanic goods. There, he says, he just asks around. "There
are even guys there who'll hand you business cards - they're in the business of
providing fake documents."
Raul,
who works in construction, says it's not uncommon to get a call from a coyote
in the morning and, by afternoon, have jobs and fake documents for the newly
arrived illegals. The two won't tell how many illegal immigrants they help, but
say they get called at least weekly.
All
of the arrests at the Swift plants Tuesday targeted illegal immigrants who held
actual - not fake - Social Security numbers. Many businesses that make use of
immigrant labor participate in a national test program for employers called
Basic Pilot, an online system to verify employees' Social Security numbers.
But
the fake-documents manufacturers are wise to this, say David and Raul. In
Arizona, they assign Social Security numbers that begin with 601 - numbers the
government apparently assigns people from Arizona. Employers then don't readily
recognize a fake document, and, the men say, it takes at least a year for the
government to recognize a duplicate number. That means the illegal immigrant
can work in the US for up to a year before being sent home.
Arizona
Gov. Janet Napolitano set up an Arizona Fraudulent Identification Task Force in
July 2005 as part of a crackdown on crime related to illegal immigration. Since
then, the task force has focused in part on fraudulent documents. In doing so,
it has issued more than 100 search warrants resulting in 178 defendants charged
with 1,400 crimes, says Leesa Morrison, director of the Arizona Department of
Liquor Licenses and Control.
"Most
astounding," adds Ms. Morrison, "is that in this short period our
undercover agents have purchased over 1,000 fraudulent immigration documents.
What's frightening is that [they] are able to purchase a three-pack - a
driver's license, a Social Security card, and a permanent-resident card - for
about $160 on the street."
*
THE LA RAZA DEMS HAVE JUST PASSED A JOBS BILL THAT WILL
PRIMARILY BENEFIT ILLEGALS. EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS WILL NOT BE FINED OR
PUNISHED, BUT INSTEAD WILL RECEIVE GRINGO SUBSIDIZED TAX BENEFITS FOR ILLEGALLY
HIRELING ILLEGALS. OBAMA’S MESSAGE REMAINS THE SAME. THE LAWS WILL NOT BE
ENFORCED AGAINST EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGALS. THE STAGGERING UNEMPLOYMENT DOES NOT
MEAN THAT JOBS SHOULD GO TO AMERICANS.
AS ALWAYS, IT’S ALL ABOUT HISPANDERING FOR THE ILLEGALS’
VOTES!
Crossing
the ID border
The
Monitor's View
Americans
learned last week they can no longer look the other way when someone else hires
an illegal worker. A federal raid on six Swift & Co. meatpacking plants
in the US nabbed more than 1,250 "undocumented" migrants - and dozens
were charged with using the IDs of real people, perhaps even of children.
The usual practice for many of
the estimated 12 million illegal migrants living in the US has been to buy fake
IDs with made-up numbers and names. But organized rings in at least 10 cities
now sell authentic-looking Social Security cards and some 26 other types of IDs
with real names.
These IDs make it even more
difficult for employers to reject illegal workers - if employers even bother to
check. Such forgery has reached an "epidemic," say federal officials,
with illegal migrants and their handlers now violating both the privacy rights
and economic rights of innocent Americans.
In one case, a man named Jason
Smith found he owed $12,000 in back taxes because an illegal immigrant used his
Social Security number to work at a chicken plant for three years.
To avoid detection, fake-ID
rings often use a child's identity. Usually, only when the children reach 18
would they find out they have a record of bad credit or other financial
complication. One Mexico-based ring's reach is so "breathtaking," a
federal judge stated in one case, that it hits "at the heart of the
sovereignty of the United States."
Most identity theft is done to
steal money, not work in someone's name. But with about 1 in 30 Americans now
having their financial identities stolen each year, and with illegal migrants
making up nearly 1 in 20 workers, a dangerous link has been made between two
massive violations of law. Government is cracking down on ID theft, but both
states and Congress have only begun to come to grips with illegal migration -
despite the threat of terrorists using fake IDs to hide in the US.
A federal system that allows
employers to check Social Security IDs is flawed because it cannot detect cases
where migrants use legitimate names and numbers. (Swift & Co. uses the
system, but only a fraction of companies do.)
Even if this system is
improved, ID thieves may find new ways around it. And expanding a guest-worker
program for Mexicans may only be compromised by other ways of forging
documents; in addition, that program may never be large enough to curb the flow
of illegal migration.
Another offered solution -
"earned amnesty" - would be difficult if illegals simply buy fake
records to claim they've been in the US for years. And amnesty is hardly a
reward to give those who knowingly commit the felony of identity theft.
Congress recently boosted
border enforcement and raised fines on employers who hire illegals. Both
measures are good first steps and need to be pursued effectively for years.
Companies need to raise wages high enough to attract legal workers, while law
enforcement needs to show a consistent record of cracking down on employers who
knowingly hire illegals.
No one's true identity can
ever be stolen. But Americans need to know that both their financial and border
security are not at risk.
The
fake ID business: some previous busts … WHERE THERE’S A MEXICAN, THERE’S A
MEXICAN CRIME TIDAL WAVE!
*
April
2005: In Florida, immigration agents arrested 52, including several state
Department of Motor Vehicles officials, alleged to be part of a scheme to make
and sell fake driver's licenses and hazmat licenses to more than 2,000 illegal
immigrants. The same month, other sweeps revealed fraudulent license schemes in
Michigan and Maryland.
*
May
2005: In Mississippi, Cedric Carpenter and Lamont Ranson pleaded guilty to
conspiring to sell fake documents to members of Abu Sayyaf, a Philippines-based
Islamist terrorist group.
*
February
2006: A lieutenant in the Mexican-based Castorena family organization, a
fraudulent document outfit that controls cells in 33 states, was sentenced in
Denver to 11 years in prison. More than 50 members of this international
counterfeit operation have been prosecuted in Denver alone. Its leader, Pedro
Castorena-Ibarra, was arrested in June by Mexican officers and is awaiting
extradition to the US.
*
March
2006: Agents busted seven counterfeit-document labs in Los Angeles and
charged 11 people with supplying fraudulent immigration and identity documents.
*
June
2006: In Boston, immigration agents arrested nine people accused of running
a phony document ring. They seized document-forging tools and six computers at
five homes. The sweeps led to the arrests of 13 undocumented Brazilian and
Guatemalan nationals.
Sources:
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Associated Press
*
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