Fake ID Ring Catered to Koreans

LAS VEGAS (CN) - The end has come for a crime ring that provided fake visas and driver's licenses for hundreds of people living illegally in the United States, the FBI said Monday.

The ring charged $3,000 to $4,500 to provide visas and driver's licenses, mostly to South Koreans in Nevada, New York, New Jersey, California, Virginia and Georgia.

The ringleader even provided a shuttle service for his clients to DMV offices in Las Vegas so they could obtain driver's licenses using the fraudulently filed forms.

Twenty-two people advertised their fraudulent services from 2010 through 2012 and used illegally obtained I-797 forms to obtain visas, driver's licenses and passports, according to the FBI.

The U.S. Customs and Immigration Service uses I-797s to communicate with applicants. It does not hand out the form.

Former USCIS employee Martin Trejo, 57, of Rialto, Calif., stole about 1,000 I-797 forms that ended up in the hands of ringleader Young-Kyu Park, 58, of Fort Lee, N.J., the FBI said.

"It was open season for driver's licenses," FBI Agent Theresa Fanelli said. "Park was willing to sell to whoever wanted to buy."

Park in January was sentenced to six years in prison for three counts of conspiracy to produce identification and false identification documents, conspiracy to steal and transport government property, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Trejo in September 2014 was convicted of conspiracy to steal government property and transportation of stolen goods in interstate commerce. He was sentenced to 26 months in prison.

Park and his cohorts also altered and counterfeited immigration documents and created fictitious utility bills and bank statements for their clients to establish residency.

"He always claimed that he was a Robin Hood of the community, helping people who had no other alternatives," Fanelli said. "Of course, he was benefiting handsomely and living in high style."

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