Posted on 04/08/2008 11:09:18 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Nebraska officials warn of the driver's license scheme
OMAHA, Neb. — State officials in Nebraska were warning Monday of a scheme to sell fake driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, under the promise that the documents will let people legally drive, buy and sell cars.
A Houston-based company has taken out ads in newspapers and distributed fliers to Hispanic businesses in Omaha, Grand Island and Lincoln, offering so-called international licenses and state ID cards for about $200, Angel Freytez, of the Nebraska Mexican American Commission, said.
Private companies do not sell documents that grant legal driving privileges in the United States, and people who buy them can be arrested if they present them to authorities during traffic stops, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The company was doing business as Centro de Identificaciones Inc. in Harris County. A telephone message left with the company was not returned.
It was not clear how many people actually bought documents from the company, but other companies that have made similar claims have sold to thousands of immigrants willing to jump at the chance for any type of legal documentation.
"We see these so-called 'fantasy documents' or ... 'novelty documents' fairly frequently," said Tim Counts, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman. "It's unfortunate, but I think (it is) another example of the pitfalls that await those that enter the country illegally."
While the claims can be deceptive, Counts said, it was unclear whether businesses that sold them were in violation of federal laws.
The Nebraska Attorney General's Office was monitoring the situation and planned to forward any information it received to its counterpart in Texas, spokeswoman Leah Bucco-White said on Monday.
The Texas Attorney General's Office has shut down other businesses that have offered similar promises, spokesman Charlie Castillo said. Castillo would not say whether Centro de Identificaciones was under investigation in Texas.
In 2002, Texas sued International Professional All Services, a company that sold documents and made similar claims, under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The company settled in 2003 and agreed to pay fines, legal fees and restitution to those who had bought the documents.
Virtual ID Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
$200?
You use be able to buy them at the Houston flea market for $10.
Almost 10 yrs ago when my daughter was in college, one of her dorm mates could crank you out a passable fake driver license for any of the 50 states via computer.
Given the advances in scanning, printing, and digital manipulation, I’m sure it’s trivial these days.
$200 for a license is dirt cheap ...
... when you consider that all of us legal drivers (aka citizens) have to buy plates, insurance, inspections etc which amount to well over $100 per year.
When you have a fake license, there is no need to have insurance because you flee the scene of an accident, and if you happen to be caught, you give a fake name and then proceed to get another fake (if you current stash of fakes is running low).
Houston PING
“Given the advances in scanning, printing, and digital manipulation, I’m sure it’s trivial these days.”
Actually, those states that are truly concerned about false documents (I think quite a few don’t care) are doing all kinds of things to keep their drivers licenses from being forged.
I won’t go into details, but I had someone who works in anti-fraud show me some of the ways that they were making them more secure.
It would be very difficult to defeat some of them.
IMO, the bigger problem is getting states to take document fraud and illegal aliens seriously.
I agree. Most govt entities don’t really care that much.
In some locales they seem interested in aiding and abbetting illegals.
What is really exasperating is that there seems to be a skewed priority (in addressing, investigating and prosecuting) issues like this, yet what has been done so far is gross-ly ineffective...
I can go to any Houston area flea market any weekend and quickly find the people producing these documents...You’d think there would be much more clever people able to do the same thing and actually do something legal about it...
But noooooooo...
Update:
Texas AG sues alleged fake license seller
By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press
04/11/2008
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19475082&BRD=2290&PAG=461&dept_id=569392&rfi=6
A Texas judge on Thursday ordered a company to stop selling fake driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.The judge issued a temporary restraining order after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company and its owners of using deceptive trade practices.
In the lawsuit, Abbott said the company sold documents for $225 by promising they would let people legally drive, buy and sell cars.
The company was registered under an assumed name in Harris County, where the lawsuit was filed, as Centro de Identificaciones, Inc. Its owners, Guillermo R. Robles and Hernan C. Trujillo, were also named in the filing.
The company did not immediately respond to a message left Thursday afternoon.
Private companies do not sell documents that grant legal driving privileges in the United States, and people who buy them can be arrested if they present them to authorities during traffic stops, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
It’s not clear how many people actually bought the documents from the company, and a spokesman for Abbott said officials were still investigating how many states the company operated in. Other companies that have made similar claims have sold to thousands of illegal immigrants in the past.
“We suspect they’re widely operating and advertising in states with large Hispanic communities,” spokesman Tom Kelly said.
The Texas lawsuit included copies of an ad in Spanish in which the company said the documents were “original and 100 percent legal” and “created to simplify your travel to foreign countries.”
The ad said customers “do not need to be a resident,” according to the lawsuit.
In addition to stopping sales, prosecutors were seeking restitution for customers, civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation and attorney fees.
Ping!
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