Nine people were indicted for obtaining fraudulent driver’s licenses at Jersey City and North Bergen Motor Vehicle Commissions as part of over a $1.3 million vehicle purchasing and financing scheme, Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“By diligently investigating cases of document fraud related to New Jersey digital driver’s licenses, we frequently uncover larger criminal schemes involving identity theft and financial fraud,” Bruck said in a statement.
“In this case, we collaborated with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and federal law enforcement partners to bring these defendants to justice, pursuing evidence across five states and even overseas.”
The New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Specialized Crimes Bureau obtained a state grand jury indictment on Friday, November 5th, charging the nine defendants with second-degree conspiracy and other offenses, as outlined below.
They were initially charged by complaint in September 2020 in Operation Export, an investigation by the DCJ Specialized Crimes Bureau that began with a referral from the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) Security and Investigations Unit.
The defendants allegedly obtained New Jersey digital driver’s licenses from the Jersey City and North Bergen Motor Vehicle Agencies using the stolen identities of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and fake Puerto Rico driver’s licenses, as well as other false documents, including Social Security cards, debit cards, and birth certificates.
From February 2017 through March 2019, they allegedly fraudulently purchased, financed, titled and/or transferred 26 motor vehicles and three watercrafts with trailers—one boat and two jet skis—using the fraudulently obtained New Jersey driver’s licenses and the identities and credit of the victims in Puerto Rico.
10 vehicles were recovered in the U.S., but others were shipped overseas, including seven shipped to the Dominican Republic.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission alerted the Attorney General’s Office after discovering that the Puerto Rico driver’s licenses that the defendants used to obtain New Jersey digital driver’s licenses were fraudulent.
It is alleged that eight of the defendants personally obtained New Jersey digital driver’s licenses using stolen identities and fraudulently purchased vehicles and/or watercrafts in New Jersey or other states.
The ninth, Reyfy Gonzalez, allegedly conspired in the document fraud and received and transferred stolen vehicles and watercrafts.
Additionally, six defendants are charged with theft by deception for allegedly making fraudulent purchases of vehicles and/or watercrafts in New Jersey.
After buying a vehicle on credit, the defendants allegedly “washed” the vehicle title by creating a false lien release or fraudulent title indicating there was no lien on the vehicle. The fake document was used to obtain a clean title in another state.
That clean title was then used to transfer ownership to another individual, often within the conspiracy, allowing the vehicle to be shipped overseas.
Federal law enforcement agencies in New Jersey and other states uncovered the same or similar criminal activity and are pursuing charges against several of the defendants listed below, as well as additional defendants.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Massachusetts and Northern District of Ohio also announced charges in September 2020 stemming from an investigation by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations’ Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has worked cooperatively with the federal agencies, officials said.
“This far-reaching investigation is a great example of seamless cooperation across jurisdictional lines,” added Director of the Division of Criminal Justice Lyndsay V. Routolo.
“I commend the attorneys and detectives of our Specialized Crimes Bureau, as well as our federal partners and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. This 65-count indictment holds the defendants fully accountable for their alleged crimes in New Jersey.”
NJMVC uses a two-pronged strategy to reduce the incidents of fraudulent documents being used to acquire New Jersey driver’s licenses.
They conduct commission-wide training in advanced fraudulent document identification and assign a team of trained investigators to examine the authenticity of suspect documents.
When investigators detect an increase in the appearance of certain fraudulent documents, such as counterfeit Puerto Rico driver’s licenses, NJMVC field investigators give these documents greater scrutiny as they are presented in licensing centers.
“This is a reminder that a big part of our job at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is to prevent fraud, including identity theft,” noted NJMVC Chief Administrator Sue Fulton.
“I commend our Security and Investigations team for their diligence and skill in helping launch the investigation that ultimately put a stop to this.”
These are the nine defendants and their alleged crimes:
Reyfy Gonzalez, 33, of Cliffside Park
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Receiving Stolen Property
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (2 counts)
Taina G. Perez, 28, of Methuen, Mass.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
2nd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (9 counts)
Jose M. Irizarry, 45, of New Haven, Conn.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
2nd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (5 counts)
Ricardo Acevedo, 50, of Paterson, N.J.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
2nd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (7 counts)
Andy A. Mazara, 28, of Lawrence, Mass.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
2nd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (7 counts)
Tirson Ruiz, 51, of Lawrence, Mass.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
3rd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (4 counts)
Alvaro J. Alvarez-Capio, 46, of Lowell, Mass.
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
2nd Degree Impersonation
3rd Degree Theft by Deception
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records or Information (8 counts)
Willie A. Samuel-Baldayaquez, 39, of Newark
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Use of Personal Identifying Information of Another
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records (5 counts)
Guillermo Alex Cruz-Guerrero, 43, of Ohio
2nd Degree Conspiracy
2nd Degree Fencing
3rd Degree Tampering with Public Records (2 counts)
Irizarry and Acevedo are in federal custody in Massachusetts; Mazara, Samuel-Baldayaquez, and Cruz-Guerrero are in federal custody in Ohio; and Ruiz was previously deported. The remaining defendants were released from custody.
