I-Team: 'Identity brokers' allegedly trafficked stolen, fake passports

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The ABC7 I-Team looked into "identity brokers" who traffic stolen and fake passports. On Tuesday, federal authorities made arrests in a new scheme to traffic the identities and documents of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens.

Birth certificates and other personal identification stolen in Puerto Rico, shipped to identity brokers in metro Chicago, then sold to illegal immigrants here. The Illinois Secretary of State Police told the I-Team they have recently revoked "upwards of 100" Illinois drivers licenses obtained through this pipeline. Fourteen people were arrested in Puerto Rico, as the latest law enforcement action in an ongoing federal investigation known as "Operation Island Express 2."

The scheme starts in Puerto Rico according to federal law enforcement. Investigators say from July 2008 through April of this year, social security cards, Puerto Rico birth certificates and other personal identification documents of Puerto Rican U.S. citizens were sent to operatives in numerous U.S. cities, including southwest suburban Aurora, central Indiana and western Michigan.

The actual, legitimate documents were then sold to people in the U.S. illegally so they could obtain local driver's licenses.

On Tuesday, I.C.E. agents arrested several of the 14 people named in three indictments in Puerto Rico with conspiracy to commit identification fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and passport fraud. Four were arrested in Puerto Rico, one in Florida and the other alleged identity brokers are still being rounded up.

The going rate for a Puerto Rican social security card and corresponding birth certificate was from $700 to $2,500, according to investigators, with payment through money transfer services and confirmation via text messaging.

The Puerto Rican pipeline has been flowing for several years, despite dozens of arrests by U.S. authorities. Illinois Secretary of State Police say there have been attempts to fraudulently obtain driver's licenses at their testing offices in Aurora, DeKalb and Rockford with documents from the identity brokers. Federal agents say some customers of the stolen I.D.s used them to commit financial fraud and others used the documents to try to obtain U.S. passports.