Sheriff Gee announces ID fraud arrests

TAMPA --- A dozen people, four of them illegal immigrants, have been charged with helping others create fake IDs and vehicle titles which were then used to obtain authentic documents, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee announced this afternoon.

Gee said a 16-month investgation pointed out flaws in the way state titles and registrations are issued. No system is in place, he said, to immediately check the authenticity of IDs presented in applications at the tax collector's office.

"We are going to be seeking legislative changes. This is a basic loophole that has opened our system up to fraudulent activity," Gee said.

Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden agreed, saying he has brought the issue up to legislators for years. State guidelines require his employees to just make sure title and registration paperwork is in order and little else, he said. The state can check the validity of the information, he said.

"We need true legislation to seal up these loopholes," he said.

Gee, joined by representatives from Immigration Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Hillsborough County State Attorneys Office, said companies operating in east and south Hillsborough County had been implicated.

Migrant workers would come to store fronts advertising ways to get legitimate car titles. The companies would help them get fake IDs and paperwork, which the companies would turn over to the tax collector, Gee said. The tax collector would then issue legitimate titles.

Two more arrests are expected. Seven of 14 suspects face federal charges related to the transfer of five or more false identification documents. Some of the people who benefitted from the fake IDs were also arrested. Gee said he doesn't know how long the fraud ring has been operating and how many people have benefited from the illegal enterprises. He said more arrests will come. Two cars have been impounded.

The Sheriff's Office grew suspicious in September 2006 after a series of hit and run crashes, in which drivers had no car insurance but seemingly legitimate titles, Gee said.

-- Justin George, Times staff writer

Comments

[jig]

Time for the State of Florida and the US department of homeland security to begin doing their job. .

Perhaps, they are committing crimes because we are not accommodating them enough.