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| From Animal New York |
From the
Times Ledger:
The illicit market for fake identification has made Roosevelt Avenue a destination for decades for underage youths looking for “proof” to enter bars and clubs as well as immigrants looking for a fake green card or Social Security card.
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it was aware of the problem and was working with law enforcement to prevent false documents from aiding terrorists. State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights) has spent nearly a decade trying to remedy the dangerous situation.
His bill to crack down on the fake ID market and other forged official documents was passed unanimously by the state Senate last Friday. The bill toughens the penalties against individuals who manufacture or sell fake IDs, especially government identifications, such as driver’s licenses, passports and Social Security cards.
“This illicit industry does us a lot of harm, and it is still a huge problem in Queens,” Peralta said. “This bill and the new municipal ID program is very bad news for the counterfeit mills operators. We have to crack down on the mills and increase the penalties on these mill operators to eradicate this serious problem.”
The bill prohibits the sale of forged instruments. It also amends the penal code to include the sale and manufacture of government issue documents as a class C felony in the first degree that would carry a penalty of 1 to 15 years behind bars. In addition, it creates the presumption that an individual who possesses two or more forged government documents depicting a person other than him or herself intends to sell those fake documents.
From the
Daily News:
It took me just an hour and a half to get a fake ID in New York City’s ground zero for the fraudulent document business — Roosevelt Ave. in Queens.
The Jackson Heights neighborhood is the epicenter of fake paper mills — rackets that fuel teenage drinking and identity theft and also create fake green cards and passports that can pose a serious security threat.
At first I was laughed at for looking like a cop. But when I swapped my leather jacket for a red hoodie, a guy carrying boxes was quick to call a friend who could help me out.
“You need a fake ID?” the man asked. While several cops roamed the gritty avenue, he led me into an electronics store to get my picture taken for $10.
I wrote down my information on a piece of paper, and then he told me the phony card would be ready in an hour. He took $100 from me and slipped away.
After 90 minutes, I was led into a narrow staircase in a seedy storefront where we made the exchange — my new fake ID in return for another $50.
I didn’t get a new high-tech driver’s license — those are much harder to reproduce — but the market for current licenses, which are still valid if they are issued before September 2013, is skyrocketing.
Law enforcement officials are worried that legislation in the City Council to create municipal ID cards for the undocumented would allow for more shady transactions to take place.
From the
Daily News:
A Brooklyn bakery worker who sold cakes and pastries also ran a half-baked side business that offered forged ID cards, prosecutors charged Thursday.
Jose Mateo Castro, 56, who worked at Las Conchitas Bakery in Sunset Park, was recently indicted, along with Leonel Escamiilo, 43, who is accused of producing the phony IDs out of his basement. Authorities said they sold a bogus green card and Social Security card to an informant.
"According to the agents at Homeland Security, these documents looked so authentic that an ordinary lay person could not detect them to be phony," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. The feds were tipped off about a forged-ID-selling baker in summer 2011. A subsequent yearlong probe involved surveillance from cars and a helicopter, Hynes said.
The two suspects, who are being held on bail, face seven years in prison if convicted, followed by deportation to their native Mexico.
