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| For
Immediate Release: |
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For
Further Information Contact: |
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| December
13, 2004 |
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Office of The
Attorney General
- Peter C. Harvey, Attorney
General
Division
of Criminal Justice
- Vaughn L. McKoy, Director
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John
R. Hagerty
609-984-1936
A/Sgt. Stephen Jones
609-882-2000 x6513
Gordon Deal
609-292-4711
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Attorney
General’s Document Fraud Task Force
Arrest 3 MVC Employees as Part of Ongoing
Investigation Targeting Corruption and Document
Fraud
Division of Criminal Justice and State
Police Infiltrate “Black Market”
Cartel Selling Valid NJ Digital Driver’s
Licenses...
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Trenton
-- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
announced that three Motor
Vehicle Commission (MVC) employees,
along with 13 other individuals, have
been arrested as a result of an ongoing
investigation by the Attorney General’s
Document Fraud Initiative on corruption
charges related to the brokering of
valid New Jersey digital driver’s
licenses and other legitimate identification
documents and credentials. The principal
defendants remain in custody in the
Essex County Jail pending court appearances
for arraignment and bail scheduled for
Tues., Dec. 14 before Essex County Superior
Court Judge Donald Volkert.
“The
arrests in this case represent our continuing
commitment to identify and prosecute
anyone - at any level - who allows greed
to overcome their public service responsibilities,”
said Attorney General Harvey. “The
very existence of corrupt public employees
obtaining and selling New Jersey’s
new digital driver’s licenses
strikes at the core of our efforts to
assure integrity and security for all
New Jerseyans. New Jersey’s official
identification documents are not for
sale and those who profit by selling
legitimate documents on the black market
or by diverting MVC monies to their
own pockets will be aggressively prosecuted.”
Vaughn L. McKoy, Director, Division
of Criminal Justice, Colonel Joseph
R. Fuentes, Superintendent, New
Jersey State Police, and Sharon
A. Harrington, Chief Administrator,
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission,
identified the defendants as:
-
Alexander
Velez, 20, 100 block, Pallisade Road,
Elizabeth, Union County. Clerk employed
at the East Orange MVC Agency. Charged
with official misconduct, conspiracy,
sale of simulated documents, and tampering
with public records. In custody in
Essex County Jail in lieu of $100,000
cash bail;
-
Francois
Guiseppe Garcia, 21, 400 block, Stimpson
Ave., Linden, Middlesex County. Clerk
employed at the East Orange MVC Agency.
Charged with official misconduct,
conspiracy, sale of simulated documents,
and tampering with public records.
In custody in Essex County Jail in
lieu of $100,000 cash bail;
-
Michael
James Twaddle, 20, 200 block, Marion
Ave., Linden, Middlesex County. Clerk
employed at the East Orange MVC Agency.
Charged with official misconduct,
conspiracy, sale of simulated documents,
and tampering with public records.
In custody in Essex County Jail in
lieu of $100,000 cash bail;
-
Hugo
Munoz, 42, 500 block, North County
Line Road, Jackson, Ocean County.
Alleged “broker” of organized
criminal cartel in business to obtain
and re-sell official New Jersey identification
documents. Charged with official misconduct,
conspiracy, sale of simulated documents,
and tampering with public records.
In custody in Essex County Jail in
lieu of $750,000 cash bail;
-
Dora
Munoz, 500 block, North County Line
Road, Jackson, Ocean County. Alleged
“broker” of organized
criminal cartel in business to obtain
and re-sell official New Jersey identification
documents. Charged with official misconduct,
conspiracy, sale of simulated documents,
and tampering with public records.
In custody in Essex County Jail in
lieu of $750,000 cash bail;
-
Manuel
Heber Puentes, 44, New Frendale Road,
Warton, Morris County. Alleged “broker”
of organized criminal cartel in business
to obtain and re-sell official New
Jersey identification documents. Charged
with official misconduct, conspiracy,
sale of simulated documents, and tampering
with public records. In custody in
Essex County Jail in lieu of $750,000
cash bail;
-
Robert
Lister Lopez-Montalvo, 21, 1000 block,
Louisa Street, Elizabeth, Union County.
Alleged “broker” of organized
criminal cartel in business to obtain
and re-sell official New Jersey identification
documents. Charged with official misconduct,
conspiracy, sale of simulated documents,
and tampering with public records.
In custody in Essex County Jail in
lieu of $750,000 cash bail;
-
Ivonne Lopez-Arriciaga, age unknown,
1000 block Louisa Street, Elizabeth,
Union County. Alleged “broker”
of organized criminal cartel in business
to obtain and re-sell official New
Jersey identification documents. Charged
with official misconduct, conspiracy,
sale of simulated documents, and tampering
with public records. In custody in
Essex County Jail in lieu of $750,000
cash bail;
-
Elian
Valvarverde-Fonseca, 27, 200 block,
Franklin Ave., Midland Park, Bergen
County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records;
-
Sergio
J. Lusnich, 51, East Linden Avenue,
Englewood, Bergen County. Alleged
“customer” seeking to
illegally purchase official New Jersey
digital driver’s license. Charged
with tampering with public records;
-
Maria
D. Parama, 48, MacArthur Avenue, Garfield,
Bergen County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records;
-
Kelly
Braga, 25, Clover Street, Newark,
Essex County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records;
-
Janeina
Santa-Rita, 27, Elm Road, Newark,
Essex County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records;
-
Oscar
Parama, 47, Center Street, Garfield,
bergen County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records;
-
Henry
Burgos, 26, 1200 block, Martha Ave.,
Plainfield, Middlesex County. Alleged
“customer” seeking to
illegally purchase official New Jersey
digital driver’s license. Charged
with tampering with public records;
-
Luis
A. Cedena, 20, 800 block, Bailey Ave.,
Elizabeth, Union County. Alleged “customer”
seeking to illegally purchase official
New Jersey digital driver’s
license. Charged with tampering with
public records.
According to Colonel Fuentes and Director
McKoy, the State Police and the Division
of Criminal Justice opened separate
investigations targeting the black market
sale of valid New Jersey digital driver’s
licenses. The investigations infiltrated
the alleged activities of corrupt MVC
employees assigned to the East Orange
MVC Agency, 55 Washington St., East
Orange, Essex County, and “brokers”
in the business of obtaining and re-selling
legitimate and valid New Jersey digital
driver’s licenses.
The investigation uncovered information
that valid New Jersey digital driver’s
licenses were trading for more than
$3,000 per license on the black market.
As a result of court authorized search
and seizure warrants, the investigation
seized and/or confiscated more than
$70,000 in cash, a 2004 Ford Explorer,
a 2004 Mazda, $32,000 in cash from a
safe deposit box, and various identification
documents. The defendants were arrested
on Sat., Dec. 11 at various locations,
including the East Orange MVC Agency.
“Efforts
to investigate and prosecute MVC employee
theft and related document fraud focus
on illegally obtained and/or fraudulent
driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations,
insurance cards, driver permits and
related identification documents such
as U.S. passports, social security cards,
birth certificates, county ID cards
and other official documents,”
Director McKoy said. “The Document
Fraud Initiative continues to uncover
areas of susceptibility and to prosecute
anyone involved in the black market
trade of illegally obtained and/or illegitimate
identification documents. ”
"It
is obvious that these MVC clerks have
not learned anything from the examples
of their jailed predecessors,"
said State Police Colonel Fuentes. "Conspiring
to obtain and distribute New Jersey
digital driver's licenses is not only
a second degree crime, it's a threat
to homeland security. The New Jersey
State Police will treat it as such."
“The good news is that our new
initiatives such as on-site investigators,
uniformed police at the East Orange
agency and security cameras all played
a role in stopping this fraud,”
said MVC Chief Administrator Harrington.
“The bad news is that there are
still those individuals who insist on
disgracing themselves, their state,
and their country,” she said.
To date, the Attorney General’s
Document Fraud Initiative has resulted
in the prosecution of more than 91 individuals,
including 13 current/former MVC employees.
State Grand Jury indictments have charged
official misconduct, forgery, theft,
identity theft, gifts to public servants,
and related criminal violations. As
a result of the prosecutions, dozens
of convictions and/or guilty pleas with
resulting sentences ranging from ten
years in State Prison to hundreds of
hours of community service.
The investigations were conducted by
the New Jersey State Police Auto Unit
- North Squad, the New Jersey State
Police Document Fraud Unit, the Division
of Criminal Justice - Organized Crime
& Racketeering Bureau, and the New
Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Internal
Investigations Unit. Deputy Attorney
General Erin Callahan will represent
the Division of Criminal Justice at
the arraignment and bail hearings.
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