The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Miami Field Office, working with multiple federal, state, and local enforcement authorities, has apprehended nine individuals suspected of passport fraud.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Robert Grech, Special Agent in Charge of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
Operation Heat Wave, a Florida statewide law enforcement operation that resulted in the suspects’ apprehension was conducted from Feb. 18, 2016 through Feb. 26, 2016 and spanned from Key Largo to Jacksonville.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners will continue to investigate and identify for prosecution individuals who compromise our nation’s security through passport fraud," stated U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer.
“The apprehension of fugitives and suspects delivers a clear message that federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities will find and bring to justice any individuals who attempt to defraud the U.S. government," said Robert Grech, Special Agent in Charge of the DSS Miami Field Office. “If you engage in passport or visa fraud or engage in other forms of identity theft, sooner or later we will track you down."
Operation Heat Wave generated the filing of federal criminal charges, by complaint, information or indictment, against a total of nine individuals for passport and/or visa fraud offenses. Seven individuals were charged in the Southern District of Florida for making false statements in passport applications. Two additional individuals were charged in the Middle District of Florida for making false statements in applications for a passport.
If convicted, individuals charged with falsifying a passport application will face a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine.
The DSS Miami Field Office is responsible for eight southern states. DSS personnel from across the region and approximately 100 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers were among those involved in support of Operation Heat Wave.
DSS partnered with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, along with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Enforcement and Removal Operations; DHS Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Marshals Service; Florida Highway Patrol; Miami-Dade Police Department; and several other local law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Ferrer commended DSS for leading this operation, and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and all participating agencies for their investigative efforts and assistance. The cases in the Southern District of Florida are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Keene, Theodore Cooperstein, Carmen Lineberger, Jonathan Stratton and Brian Shack.
An information, complaint and indictment are merely legal filings containing accusations and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
