A man known identified by an alias was one of 50 people indicted as part of a ring that allegedly used the identities of real Puerto Ricans to provide documentation for foreigners in the U.S.
"Cesar Pizarro" of Dorchester (also listed as "First Name Unknown/Last Name Unknown") served as an "identity broker" for the ring, based in Caguas, Puerto Rico, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.
According to the indictment, Pizarro arranged for delivery of bogus social-security cards and birth certificates to customers in the Dorchester area. Typically, these "identity sets" went for $700 to $2,500, with brokers like Pizarro keeping half.
The indictment describes a number of transactions between Pizarro and the suppliers in Puerto Rico, including:
On or about August 24, 2011, defendant Cesar Pizarro informed defendant Daniel Mendez that one of his customers was dissatisfied with an identity document he had just received. Defendant Daniel Mendez offered to send Cesar Pizarro a replacement identity document.
In addition to Pizarro, the indictment lists residents of Lawrence, Salem and Worcester as identity brokers and a Lawrence man as a "mail runner," who would take money to a service such as Western Union to wire to Puerto Rico.
Innocent, etc.
