Rachel C. Hernandez Acting United States Attorney for the District of Arizona | U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona
Enrrique Ricardo Diaz Vazquez, a 60-year-old Mexican national residing in Arizona, has been indicted on charges of passport and visa fraud. The indictment was issued by a federal grand jury in Phoenix after it was discovered that Diaz Vazquez had allegedly assumed the identity of a deceased United States citizen over 40 years ago.
Court documents state that Diaz Vazquez adopted the identity of Gene Edward Katzorke, who died at the age of two in 1966. Diaz Vazquez initially applied for a U.S. passport in 1986 using Katzorke’s name, supported by an Arizona license and a U.S. birth certificate. The renewal applications of his passports through Katzorke’s identity were facilitated using the previously issued passports as supporting documents. In 2022, the fraudulent application came under scrutiny when a historical investigation revealed Katzorke's 1960s obituary.
According to the United States Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), it was determined that "Gene Edward Katzorke had died in 1966, at the age of 2 years old." Further investigations linked the name to Diaz Vazquez in criminal databases. On March 7, 2025, Diaz Vazquez was arrested at the Western Passport Center while attending a scheduled appointment for his latest passport application under Katzorke’s name.
In a post-arrest interview, Diaz Vazquez confessed to being born as Enrrique Ricardo Diaz Vasquez in Guadalajara, Mexico. He had adopted Katzorke's identity to join the U.S. military. Diaz Vazquez "successfully joined the military under Katzorke’s name, but then fled to Mexico after facing criminal charges for a homicide involving a nine-month-old infant in Tucson, Arizona." Diaz Vazquez was deported under the mistaken belief that he was a U.S. citizen and has since been living under the assumed identity.
The charges of passport and visa fraud could lead to a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. It is important to note that "an indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt." The case is under the jurisdiction of the Diplomatic Security Service Tucson Resident Office and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. "Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Sydney Yew, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution."
