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Passport
Fraud: Issued in Error
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Passport Fraud:
Prevented (or Not Known) These cases from the public domain are instances where attempts to fraudulently obtain passports were prevented, or the manner in which the fraud was detected is unknown. |
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February 3, 2006: A South Florida man was
arrested for obtaining a fake driver’s license, which he obtained by
showing an altered U.S. passport. Link
to CBS4.com Story.
April 26, 2004: Former Symbionese
Liberation Army member James Kilgore sentenced to 54 months in prison on
federal explosives and passport fraud convictions:
September 25, 2003:
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice Press Release regarding 16
individuals who allegedly fraudulently obtained U.S. passports,
including 8 who have pled guilty: September 22, 2003: Juan Carlos Elias arrested for passport fraud, and wife Arecli Martinez also arrested for fraudulently obtaining a passport:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nh/pdfreleases/
August 26, 2003: Crimes Stoppers publicizes manhunt and reward for James Patrick Corrigan aka Mark R. Wills aka Mickey Holt – he surrendered on August 26, 2003. He allegedly obtained a passport using a deceased identity: http://www.crimetips.org/030804.html
August 6, 2003: DS Press Release regarding arrest of Donald D. Moulton for allegedly obtaining a passport using a deceased identity: http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/23054.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txs/
May 14, 2003: James Kilgore pleads guilty to murder committed in 1975:
http://www.rickross.com/reference/
On February 26, 2003 Kilgore pled guilty to passport fraud and explosive charges for acts committed in 1975. He was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, infamous for kidnapping Patty Hearst in 1974. He obtained a passport in Seattle in 1975 using a deceased identity and was a fugitive from justice for 28 years:
http://www.courttv.com/trials/soliah/
May 7, 2003: Eli
Morrow sentenced for illegally obtaining passport in a fraudulent
identity, now wanted for murdering his wife:
http://www.almanacnews.com/morgue/ More from the Philippines Government: http://www.immigration.gov.ph/INTEL2003main.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/
February 26, 2003:
Yadwinder Singh a/k/a Amanjit Singh a/k/a Surinder Kumar a/k/a David Warren
Jeswine and Qui-Hong Sun a/k/a Guobing Xia a/k/a Brenda Leann Janke
convicted of fraudulently obtaining U.S. passports:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/
February 18, 2003:
Taylar Nuevelle a/k/a Aja Emma Faria pleads guilty to two counts of
passport fraud for obtaining a passport for herself and her son in other
identities (she used the passports to kidnap her son):
April 1999 - Richard Dean Pedrioli arrested
for arms smuggling, wanted for
April 7, 1999: John Raymond Kennedy, former Highway Patrol Trooper, arrested for obtaining passport using deceased identity:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ Related article regarding the arrest:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/
http://www.seminolesheriff.org/
May 1994: DS Agents “arrested an individual who had assumed a false identity, fraudulently obtained a passport, and purchased numerous firearms. Searches of his house and storage facilities on DSS warrants revealed firearms, burglary and bank robbery tools, and child pornography. The individual also may have been involved in two murders and the sale of women to an international organized crime ring for prostitution.”
http://cairo.usembassy.gov/dss.htm |
February
13, 2006: An article about a Chula Vista, CA resident who was sentenced
to 70 months in prison and order to repay almost $12.5 million in
restitution, mentioned that his wife has plead guilty to conspiracy and
passport fraud and had received a 17 month sentence.
May 7, 2004: British man convicted for making false statements in order
to obtain a U.S. passport.
March 25, 2004: Philippine native arrested
for passport fraud: November 7, 2003: Pedro Nova pleads guilty to passport fraud: Foster's Online Article no longer available
October 3, 2003: Jose
Santana pleads guilty to passport fraud:
http://www.justice.gov/usao/ma/presspage/ http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/20943.htm
September 22, 2003: Billy Samuel Jackson pleads guilty to passport fraud:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nh/pdfreleases/
August 12, 2003: Article about domestic terrorists includes Laura Whitehorn, stating that she was convicted of passport fraud in the 1980's, allegedly part of Weather Underground and May 19th Communist organization, who allegedly committed terrorist acts, including murder:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
April 16, 2003: 57 people arrested in New Jersey in connection with passport fraud:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/
November 13, 2002: Peter John Gianquinto Jr. arrested for passport fraud – wanted for questioning in DC Sniper case, allegedly linked to John Muhammad:
http://www.newsday.com/news/ story?coll=ny-nynews-reddots-headlines
October 28, 2002: Raul Eduardo Pero aka Paul Terry Reed sentenced for role in life insurance fraud scam – he applied for a passport in a deceased identity:
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/PRS/
Earlier article from
July 10, 2000:
April 10, 2002: Troy Garnett Francis charged with passport fraud:
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m4PRN/
April 9, 2002: Usama S. Abdel-Whab arrested for false statement to police officer, turned over to DS the next day - wanted for passport fraud:
http://www.poughkeepsiebeat.com/4-19-02/
2001: Arrest of woman
for passport fraud and tax fraud - teaching people that they don't have
to pay taxes, etc.:
March 26, 2000:
Juventino Lira-Carmona convicted of passport fraud:http://www.consumer.gov/ September 5, 2003: Michael Lumley pleads guilty to passport fraud:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/
November 13, 1996: DOS Press Release: Marwan Abid Adam Kadi aka Ibrahim Mahmood Awethe was arrested on November 6, 1996 in Paraguay and extradited to the US – wanted for passport fraud charges in Chicago:
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/ Related news article, referencing a possible connection to a travel warning on election day in Paraguay: http://www.hri.org/docs/statedep/96-11-13.std.html
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March 17, 2004: Testimony of Mark S. Zuckerman, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, on Passport Fraud.
Testimony before the U.S. Sentencing Commission
DOS Diplomatic Security office: “Investigating Passport Fraud”:
http://www.state.gov/m/ds/investigat/
This site explains that DS “conducts criminal investigations into violations of passport and visa fraud. These federal felonies are often committed in connection with more serious crimes, such as international terrorism, narcotics trafficking, organized crime, alien smuggling, money laundering, pedophilia, and murder. These investigations are critical to the President's efforts to secure American borders and protect the national security of the United States.”
The site continues:
“The U.S. passport is the most valuable identity document in the world as it establishes American citizenship and allows its bearer unlimited access to virtually every country in the world. People who attempt to obtain a U.S. passport illegally often are seeking to change their identities and conceal their activities and movements.”
DOS Diplomatic
Security office: "Passport and Visa Fraud: A Quick Course":
http://www.state.gov/m/ds/investigat/c10714.htm
March 31, 2003: Diplomat Security Agent testimony to a Texas Senate hearing: http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/rm/19561.htm
April 2, 2002: Press
Conference discussing Photodigitized passport being issued to applicants
applying overseas, September 11th ramifications, passport
fraud, time it takes to process passport, etc.:
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/sasia/text/0402state.htm
June 11, 2002: DOS Press Conference includes
discussion on alleged al-Qaeda member Jose Padilla, who is alleged to be involved in a plot to use a
"dirty" bomb, and the role that his passport application had in catching
him: Daily
Press Briefing - June 11, 2002
Vulnerabilities in the U.S.
Passport System Can Be Exploited by Criminals and Terrorists
June 29, 2005: The U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental
Affairs Committee held a hearing today titled "Vulnerabilities
in the U.S. Passport System Can Be Exploited by Criminals and Terrorists",
which addressed the GAO's report on this issue.
Senate Committee Asks GAO to
Investigate Passport Integrity Concerns
May 2004: The U.S. Senate Homeland Security
& Governmental Affairs Committee asks the GAO to investigate the
integrity of the passport issuance process after NFFE Local 1998 brought
concerns on this subject to the committee's attention.
DC Sniper & Proposed Western Hemisphere Passport Requirement
May 2003: DOS Manager
Sharon Palmer-Royston testifying on convicted DC sniper John Muhammad,
passport fraud, the proposed Western Hemisphere passport requirement,
and the GAO commenting on their ease at getting phony documents past
border inspectors:
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju87092.000/hju87092_0.HTM
Passport Fraud
July 22, 1999: DOS Manager John Hotchner testimony on passport fraud:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary/hotc0722.htm
Fraud Program
Staffing
May 20, 1997 Testimony by Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of
Consular Affairs, Mary Ryan (includes reference to existing Assistant
Fraud Program Managers in the fight against passport fraud):
http://www.house.gov/judiciary/685.htm
Assistant Secretary of
State for Diplomatic Security
October 26, 1995: Congressional Record – testimony regarding a bill to establish an Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, since it is an important job: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1995_cr/h951026-terror.htm
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports
| On
June 29, 2005 the
Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report today
titled "Improvements
Needed to Strengthen U.S. Passport Fraud Detection Efforts"
which criticized the Department of State's efforts to detect and
prevent passport fraud. The GAO made six recommendations: 1) consider way to improve interagency information sharing; 2) establish a centralized and up-to-date fraud prevention library; 3) consider augmenting fraud prevention staffing; 4) assess the extent to which interoffice workload transfers may hinder fraud prevention; 5) strengthen fraud prevention training; and 6) strengthen fraud prevention oversight. The GAO report was also critical of the development of the adjudication performance standards and stated that the changes did put more emphasis on quantity rather than quality, but concluded that since the work processes kept changing during the time period studied, they were unable to draw firm conclusions on the issue at this time. |
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In May
1996, the General Accounting Office (GAO - later the
"Government Accountability Office") issued a report
titled "Passports and Visas: Status of Efforts to Reduce
Fraud". The report stated:
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In November 2004, the
Department of State OIG reported on passport anti-fraud efforts: OIG
Monthly Reports of Activities. The
Union's May 2005 Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request to have the portions focusing on
Management's decision to eliminate the Assistant Fraud Program Manager (AFPM)
position was partially approved on approximately August 4, 2005. The
released portions reveal that "DS agents working with passport
fraud, CA/FPP officers, and all passport agency FPMs" were not
"consulted prior to the announcement of the decision to abolish the
assistant FPM position in late 2003", adding that "[a]ll of
the stakeholders claimed they would have opposed this personnel policy
had they been consulted". The report mentioned the fact that the
"union had expressed concerns about the effect that the elimination
of this position would have on detection of passport fraud". As a
result of the elimination of the AFPM's, "[s]everal of the FPMs
said they are now spending more time training staff, are involved in a
never-ending training mode, and have less time to devote to operational
work, case development, and analysis". The OIG formally recommended
that the AFPM positions be reestablished. Click
here to read more.
January 2003 OIG Report on fraud
resources in the Bureau of Consular Affairs: "There is no definitive
written guidance on who manages the passport antifraud program. The
Office of Fraud Prevention Programs and the Office of Passport Policy
and Legal Advisory Services share program responsibilities. This has led
to uncertainty among some passport agency personnel as to where to seek
advice on complex cases."
OIG
Review of
Domestic Passport Operations, Phase II: Fraud Prevention Programs
OIG
Monthly Report of Activities - January 2003 (see page 6)
OIG report talking
about insufficient fraud prevention staffing and training, focusing more
on overseas offices:
OIG
Testimony Before Congress - May 1999
Click Here For Excerpt