Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government. Created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, ICE now has more than 20,000 employees in more than 400 offices in the United States and 46 foreign countries
ICE and local law enforcement arrest 9 in Wyoming during drug operation
JACKSON, Wyo. - Nine people were arrested on Tuesday following the execution of three federal search warrants related to an ongoing local narcotics investigation. The investigation and arrests were led by special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Participating in the investigation and arrests were the following agencies: the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Teton County Sheriff's Office, the Jackson Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Two of those arrested will be presented for prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office; four were arrested on state charges, and three people were administratively arrested for immigration violations. The arrests began about 7 a.m. and occurred at residences without incident. The eight men and one woman arrested range in age from 26 to 49 years old.
During the week of Nov. 15, four aliens from Mexico and one U.S. citizen were indicted in the District of Wyoming on cocaine-related and other charges. Three of those aliens are currently in federal custody. The two others indicted remain at large.
"Our ICE HSI special agents are most effective when we join forces with our fellow law enforcement officers as we're doing in this case," said David M. Marwell, acting special agent in charge of the ICE HSI office in Denver. "Working together we can better combat crime, and help make our communities safer." Marwell oversees a four-state area, which includes: Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and Utah.
This is an ongoing investigation.
3 Colombian nationals sentenced to 23 months for alien smuggling and visa fraud charges
WASHINGTON - Three Columbian nationals each were sentenced yesterday to 23 months in federal prison for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit visa fraud in an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud scheme through which they fraudulently procured visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia. This investigation was led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Heliber Toro Mejia, 52; Humberto Toro Mejia, 60; and Luz Elena Acuna Rios, 53; all of Bogotá, was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following their sentence. In addition, removal orders were issued for all the defendants.
The defendants pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling for profit and one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. They were charged in a three-count indictment in the District of Columbia on Feb. 4, 2009. The defendants were arrested on June 2, 2009, by Colombian authorities in Bogotá on provisional arrest warrants in response to a U.S. government request for their arrest and were subsequently extradited to the United States for prosecution.
According to court documents, Heliber Toro Mejia, Humberto Toro Mejia and Luz Elena Acuna Rios admitted that they operated an extensive and sophisticated visa fraud ring that profited by assisting otherwise inadmissible Colombian nationals in fraudulently procuring visas from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá. Plea documents reveals to support the visa applications of alien applicants, the defendants and other conspirators created fictitious backgrounds for the aliens and fraudulent supporting documentation, including paperwork that appeared to be official Colombian government-issued documents such as tax filings and birth and marriage certificates, property ownership records, and corporation documents. The conspirators coached the aliens on how to pass the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá by answering questions untruthfully as well as how to lie to U.S. immigration authorities about their backgrounds when entering the United States. The defendants admitted to assisting more than 100 aliens in fraudulently obtaining or attempting to fraudulently obtain a U.S. visa during the course of the conspiracy. Many of those aliens who did obtain a fraudulently-procured visa used that visa to enter the United States.
As part of their sentences, the defendants were ordered to forfeit assets related to the alien smuggling and visa fraud scheme, including an office in Bogotá and $234,533 in proceeds. The defendants agreed to fully assist the governments of the United States and the Republic of Colombia in the identification and location of all directly forfeitable property and substitute assets and to pass clear title to directly forfeitable property and substitute assets to the United States.
The sentences are a result of Operation Coffee Country," a coordinated international investigation by the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Attaché's Office in Bogotá and the Diplomatic Security Service - Regional Security Office in Bogotá. The ICE HSI special agent in charge in Washington, D.C., and the Diplomatic Security Service - Criminal Investigations Division provided substantial assistance.
The government of Colombia, including the Colombian Department of Administrative Security and Colombian prosecutors, provided significant assistance and support during the investigation, arrest and extradition of the defendants. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá worked with their counterparts in Colombia.
Nigerian man stripped of his U.S. citizenship following his conviction for marriage and naturalization fraud
HOUSTON - A Nigerian man on Monday was stripped of his U.S. citizenship at his sentencing hearing for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud, naturalization fraud, and making a false statement to a federal agency. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Ibraheem Adeneye, 33, who is originally from Nigeria and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, was convicted of the charges May 7 by a jury. He has been in federal custody on these charges for about six months. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt sentenced Adeneye to the time he has already served in prison. The judge also granted the government's motion to strip Adeneye of his U.S. citizenship. Adeneye is now subject to deportation.
The ICE HSI investigation was initiated in 2008. Adeneye indicated that he was engaged in brokering sham marriages between Nigerian nationals and U.S. citizens so that the Nigerians could obtain immigration benefits, ultimately leading to U.S. citizenship. In return, the U.S. citizen "spouses" received cash payments to assist the Nigerians in the deception.
ICE agents made contact with Adeneye by using a confidential informant (CI), who had been previously married to Adeneye, and an undercover agent (UCA) posing as a U.S. citizen willing to engage in a fraudulent marriage. The CI introduced the UCA to Adeneye and Adeneye brokered an agreement between a Nigerian acquaintance and the UCA. A sham marriage was arranged between the UCA and the Nigerian national. Three days after their meeting the UCA engaged in a sham marriage ceremony at the Harris County, Texas, courthouse. County officials were aware of the undercover operation and no actual marriage was entered into by the UCA.
The investigation discovered that Adeneye's own marriage to the CI from 2002 through 2007 was fraudulent, and that the defendant had never lived with his purported spouse. Documents submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in support of the defendant's application for U.S. citizenship, and sworn to by Adeneye, falsely claimed he had been married to and living with the same U.S. citizen spouse for the previous three years.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Davis and Julie Searle, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.
ICE Charleston document fraud case yields arrests in Boston, New York and Philadelphia
Defendants conspired to obtain genuine South Carolina driver's licenses
CHARLESTON, S.C. - A defendant indicted in a document fraud case that yielded the identification of a ring of nationals from Trinidad and Tobago who conspired to obtain genuine South Carolina driver's licenses was arrested in Boston Thursday by special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Andrew Aberdeen is charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina with having obtained a genuine South Carolina driver's license using a counterfeit U.S. Virgin Islands driver's license. Aberdeen is scheduled for his initial appearance in Florence, S.C., on Dec. 16.
Also arrested by ICE HSI was Kenneth Mitchell who is charged with allegedly selling counterfeit Social Security cards and U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificates to all defendants indicted with the exception of Aberdeen. Mitchell allegedly produced the counterfeit documents and subsequently sold them to nine of the 10 defendants.
"Document fraud poses a severe threat to both national security and public safety," said Brock Nicholson, acting special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Atlanta which oversees Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. "Individuals and organizations who think they can continue to create false documents to help criminals hide their identities without penalty should think twice. ICE HSI along with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue those individuals and organizations trying to exploit and corrupt America's legal identification system by assisting criminals and potential terrorists to remain hidden among our legitimate citizens."
The indictment also charges Sheraz Mahomed, Veronica Ragbir, Nicholas Ragbir, Sherwin Durham, Bowlah Jagessar, Bissoondial Ragoonanan, Sabrina Lutchman and Jason Campbell. Charges were dismissed for Mahomed, Ragbir and Ragbir as the individuals were charged and convicted by the state.
Campbell, who was arrested by ICE HSI in Philadelphia on Nov. 23, is awaiting extradition to South Carolina. His initial appearance is yet to be scheduled.
The remaining defendants arrested by ICE HSI in New York are all in U.S. Marshal's custody awaiting extradition to South Carolina. Their respective initial appearances are yet to be set.
Document and benefit fraud pose a severe threat to national security and public safety because they create a vulnerability that may enable terrorists, criminals and illegal aliens to gain entry to and remain in the United States.
Nicholson thanked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Integrity and Accountability for their assistance with the investigation.
Owners of Bay Area restaurant chain charged with hiring illegal aliens and tax violations
OAKLAND, Calif. - A Pleasanton, Calif., couple who own a chain of Bay Area Mexican restaurants were arraigned in federal court here Monday after being charged in a 20-count criminal information with tax and immigration violations. The charges are the result of a lengthy investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; and the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General.
Marino Sandoval, 57, and his wife, Nicole Sandoval, 50, owners of the El Balazo restaurants, are charged in a criminal information filed last month with a variety of violations, including harboring illegal aliens for financial gain; employing at least 10 unauthorized aliens over a 12-month period; false representation of Social Security numbers; tax evasion; and filing false tax returns. The defendants are each free on a $100,000 bond. Their next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2011, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu.
Specifically, the Sandovals are accused of evading taxes on their joint personal income tax returns for 2003, 2004, and 2005; failing to pay quarterly federal insurance and unemployment taxes for El Balazo employees from December 2003 through April 2006; filing false U.S. Partnership income tax returns in 2003, 2004, and 2005; harboring illegal aliens for commercial advantage and private financial gain; knowingly hiring 10 or more unauthorized aliens over a 12-month period; and submitting false Social Security numbers for undocumented employees of the El Balazo Restaurants.
According to the court document, Marino Sandoval was primarily responsible for the day-to-day activities of the El Balazo Restaurants in the East Bay, while Nicole Sandoval handled the catering aspect of the business, including the hiring of restaurant workers and payroll for all East Bay employees.
The information alleges the defendants concealed the restaurants' daily register sales and the monthly summaries from their accountant who prepared the sales tax returns and federal tax returns for the restaurants and the defendants' joint personal income tax returns, and then under-reported the income generated by the restaurants. The defendants also allegedly paid employees using payroll checks and cash and concealed those payments from both their accountant and the Internal Revenue Service.
On Aug. 30, Marino's brother, Francisco "Frank" Sandoval, 54, of Alameda, Calif., pleaded guilty to failure to pay taxes and harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. Francisco was the partner and manager of two El Balazo restaurants located in San Francisco. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 9.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Corrigan with the assistance of Kathleen Turner.
Since its establishment in 2003, ICE has dramatically enhanced its efforts to combat the unlawful employment of unauthorized workers in this country. ICE's comprehensive strategy for worksite enforcement is aimed at promoting national security and public safety, protecting critical infrastructure, and ensuring fair labor standards.
In fiscal year 2010, worksite cases initiated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations resulted in the filing of criminal charges against a record 180 owners, employers, managers and/or supervisors - up from 135 in fiscal year 2008. However, criminal prosecutions are just one of many tools the agency is using to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect job opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce. That enforcement strategy also includes expanded use of civil penalties, employer audits and debarment. In fiscal year 2010, ICE Homeland Security Investigations conducted more than 2,200 audits of employers nationwide.
During that same time frame, ICE Homeland Security Investigations issued final fine notices totaling more than $750,000 to employers in northern California.
