Aruban Prosecution of Driver’s License Fraud Ring … Identity Theft? Homeland Security?

Aruba … Maybe you might want to think about the bigger picture on this one.

On the surface it would appear that the Aruban prosecution of seven suspects for charges of bribery, forgery and accepting money for fraudulent driver’s licenses would be a simple isolated event. However, is it? According to Amigo 50 people have bee arrested with fake licenses and the suspects in question to be prosecuted are from Aruba , Colombia , and the Dominican Republic. They are described by Aruban prosecutors as middlemen. Middlemen for what exactly? Is there really a demand in Aruba for the need to drive or have access to a vehicle?

Why would some one need a fake driver’s license in a post 9-11 world? Fake documentation of an individuals records? Where have we read that before?  A drivers license is then used in aiding an individual in getting a passport. Wouldn’t it seem a fair assumption that those that wish to pull such scams would do it in places where so little attention is paid to the details?

All this going on in the fraudulent documentation of identities while the Caribbean cries foul and whines that the US is creating a new passport requirement system. Of course the United Stated is doing everything humanly possible to screw up the issuing of new passports for homeland security.

“The message I’m stressing today is we are not going to drop the ax on Jan. 31,” he said.

As of that date, land and sea travelers returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean will be able to use a birth certificate and a driver’s license in lieu of a passport, he said. However, they will no longer be able to enter the country simply by saying they are citizens.

Chertoff said he hopes to require passports or other secure documents by summer 2008. Officials have also delayed the rule for air travelers to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean until Sept. 30 of this year, saying they will accept a driver’s license and a printout showing they have applied for a passport.

Making sure your papers are in order

Amigoe; June 30, 2007: Criminal trial seven suspects in September    

ORANJESTAD – The first group of seven suspects in the large-scale fraud with driver’s licenses appeared pro forma before the judge last Friday.   Their case cannot be brought to trial before September, because the National Detectives have not concluded the investigation yet.   The Public Prosecutor (OM) charges them with bribery, forgery, and accepting money.    

The public prosecutor emphasized that it was the police that discovered the fraud and requested the National Detectives to investigate the case.   Several suspects were arrested in March, including the group of seven.   The detectives also investigated people with a false driver’s license, and more than 50 have already been arrested.    

Among the seven suspects is the 23-year old Aruban Y.C. that works for the Driver’s License Bureau and Driver’s Exams.   He is suspected of accepting money to give duplicate driver’s licenses and forging the forms for petitions for duplicate driver’s licenses.   The OM considers the other six suspects from Aruba , Colombia , and the Dominican Republic between the age of 21 and 24, as middlemen.   They bribed C. with money, and gave him false pictures and ids in order to falsify the driver’s licenses.    

The public prosecutor has asked the judge to suspend the trial till September and so give the National Detectives the time to conclude their investigation.   Besides, there is also no court session-space before September.

The lawyers asked for releasing their clients from detention.   They argued that their clients will cooperation with the investigation, are first offenders, and almost all of them are providers for their families.   They didn’t like the argument about lack of court-session space.   “Is that a legal reason for keeping suspects detained?   Do we have to interpret the law as such?”   They also complained that they hardly get information.   There is also no social interest to keep his clients off the street.    

The judge dismissed the request of the lawyers and scheduled the trial for September 17th.