More than 300 law enforcement officers from federal and local agencies executed dozens of arrest and search warrants this week relative to multiple fraudulent document rings operating in Los Angeles, Riverside, and Santa Barbara Counties; Northern California; Illinois; and Texas, with connections to other states and Mexico.
The document fraud rings supported a variety of criminal activity. The announcement was made on behalf of multiple departments whose investigators worked on the case, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, as well as agencies in Illinois, Texas, and other parts of California.
One of the main targets of the investigation is Alejandro Morales Serrano, who allegedly manufactures raw materials that are then used to manufacture false documents on a large scale. The false documents generated by the rings included United States Permanent Resident cards, Social Security cards, Mexican Consular Identification cards, and driver’s licenses. The indictment alleges the Serrano and other co-conspirators support the manufacture of false driver’s licenses for approximately 40 of the 50 states and within Mexico.
Evidence developed during the investigation revealed that the fraudulent documents were utilized by illegal aliens to gain employment, as well as other citizenship and residency related benefits. In addition, the operation supported a variety of criminal activity, in that the false documents were instrumental in the commission of credit and bank fraud, tax fraud, identity theft, and pharmaceutical diversion schemes.
