A Peruvian citizen living in Darien, Connecticut, has been charged with several immigration fraud offenses, according to an announcement by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. The announcement was made in coordination with officials from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
Flor Consuelo Del Carmen Caballero Bernabe, 55, was arrested on August 7 and is currently detained.
According to court documents and statements presented in court, Caballero Bernabe entered the United States in 2000 on a non-immigrant visa. Authorities allege that she then began using the identity and social security number (SSN) of a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico to live and work in Connecticut and to maintain a Commercial Driver’s License. It is further alleged that she used this fraudulent identity to apply for a U.S. passport in 2005, renewed it in 2015, and used it for international travel.
In 2021, Caballero Bernabe allegedly renewed her passport under the name Byron Ruiz after completing a Probate Court process for a name and gender change. She again traveled internationally using this renewed passport.
The investigation reportedly began when the individual whose identity had been stolen applied for Social Security Disability benefits in 2022 and learned that someone in Connecticut had been earning income using their SSN. During the investigation, Caballero Bernabe is accused of making multiple false statements to federal agents.
Caballero Bernabe faces charges including passport application fraud (maximum ten years imprisonment), misuse of a passport (maximum ten years), making a false claim of U.S. citizenship (maximum three years), misuse of a social security account number (maximum five years), aggravated identity theft (mandatory two years), and making false statements (maximum five years).
U.S. Attorney Sullivan stated: "a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
This case falls under Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at addressing illegal immigration issues by coordinating resources from various Department of Justice programs such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
