ARSO-I Led Team Breaks Up Visa Counterfeiting Ring with

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANTO DOMINGO 001624

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR CA/FPP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS KFRD ASEC SMIG DR
SUBJECT: ARSO-I Led Team Breaks Up Visa Counterfeiting Ring with
International Ties

REF: A) BUENOS AIRES 001203; B) SANTO DOMINGO 1606

1) (SBU) Summary: Recent anti-fraud efforts led by the Consular
ARSO-I have resulted in 11 arrests, confiscation of equipment
related to visa and other counterfeiting activities, and freezing
of accounts and other assets of persons involved in the ring. The
investigation into the Santiago-based ring benefited from a
quickly-forged working relationship with local authorities,
including the Public Prosecutor, who collaborated in the execution
of various arrest and search warrants. The investigation is
ongoing, with several of its principal targets still at large. End
Summary.



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BUENOS AIRES REPORTS, SANTO DOMINGO RESPONDS

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2) (SBU) In mid-October, post's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU)
reviewed information in ref A, describing how at least ten
Dominican nationals carrying fraudulent visas in legitimate
passports had tried to travel to the United States from Argentina's
Ezeiza International Airport. Embassy Buenos Aires furthermore
provided our FPU and ARSO-I with detailed information on the mala
fide travelers. Most of the travelers arrived in Buenos Aires on
the same flight and attempted to board US-bound flights a few days
later. Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) checks showed that the
visa foils had been issued originally in Lima then washed and
reprinted somewhere else. The facts matched similar reports from
DHS/CBP of Dominican nationals intercepted in Lima with laundered
visas, as well as local interdictions in which washed Lima-issued
foils were fraudulently reprinted to match persons using genuine
Dominican documents.



3) (SBU) Previous investigations by our ARSO-I had revealed that
that a visa counterfeiting ring was operating somewhere in the
Santiago area. ARSO-I verified through GODR Immigration records
that several of the mala fide travelers interdicted in Argentina
had returned from Buenos Aires to their homes in the Dominican
Republic. Tracing local addresses here, the ARSO-I, accompanied by
the National Police (PN) officer assigned to the ARSO-I, and an FPU
investigator traveled to the Santiago area on 14 DEC 2009. The
first mala fide traveler identified for investigation resided in
nearby Mao and the ARSO-I led team quickly forged a solid
relationship with the prosecutors' office in that city. The
embassy team obtained arrest and search warrants for the subject
and went to his house, where police arrested him. The arrestee
quickly identified the source of his counterfeit U.S. visa as
Wilfredo Antonio Reynoso Minier (Reynoso) and said that his
passport containing the counterfeit visa was in the counterfeiter's
house. The subject's subsequent criminal complaint against Reynoso
served as the basis for the local prosecutor to issue arrest and
search warrants against Reynoso and his property.



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ALL THE DOCUMENTS FIT TO PRINT - VISAS, CURRENCY, CAR TITLES

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4) (SBU) The search of Reynoso's house revealed significant
evidence of his visa counterfeiting activities as well as evidence
that he was also counterfeiting US currency and falsifying titles
for stolen vehicles. Police found twenty US visas in various
stages of being washed and converted into counterfeits. Ten of the
eleven that were as yet unaltered and still attached to pages torn
from their original passports had been issued in Peru. Also
confiscated in the raid: an improvised pressure press; a US one
dollar bill awash in a chemical bath with the ink approximately
three-quarters faded away; a black light; two digital cameras; two
computers; two printers; a fraudulent US Legal Permanent Resident
(LPR) card; various ownership documents related to stolen vehicles;
and a Peruvian passport #4210810 in the name of Armando Cesar Koo
Escalante (Koo).

SANTO DOMI 00001624 002 OF 003


5) (SBU) Under questioning, family and other persons associated
with Reynoso disclosed that a Peruvian citizen who had entered the
country on October 26 was the actual forger of the documents, and
Reynoso was their broker. From GODR Immigration records we learned
that Koo Escalante has traveled to the Dominican Republic on
various occasions, and his most recent entry was indeed October 26,

2009. The preliminary conclusion - that Koo Escalante is the
forger, and he had been staying at the broker's house and working
out of a guest bedroom since his arrival - was also confirmed by
Reynoso's wife.



6) (SBU) Police here have charged Reynoso and Koo with organizing
illegal travel, counterfeiting US visas, counterfeiting US
currency, counterfeiting "cedulas" (local identity document) and
falsifying vehicle licensing and sales documents. Both men remain
at large despite an extensive manhunt, surveillance of their known
associates and military checkpoints of all routes out of the
region. Local law enforcement lookouts have been placed on the
subjects and immigration holds are in place to prohibit their
departure from the country. In addition, Reynoso's bank assets
have been frozen and other property seized. Other documents
indicate that Reynoso has used a second identity and possesses a
cedula issued in the name of Robert Frias Paulino. (GODR
authorities have issued lookouts, holds and seizures under this
identity as well.)



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ELEVEN ASSOCIATES ARRESTED SO FAR, AND EVIDENCE MOUNTS FOR MORE
ARRESTS

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7) (SBU) The bust of the Reynoso-Koo operation has led to the
arrest of 11 individuals to date, even as its two namesakes remain
at large. Those arrested include the original mala fide traveler,
various members of Reynoso's family who refused to cooperate with
local authorities, and other persons associated with and/or
supporting the counterfeiting network. Reynoso's sister
apparently served as title-holder for assets including bank
accounts, buildings, properties, and vehicles. Reynoso's wife
attached her name to various fraudulent documents surrounding
vehicle purchases and land titles. Reynoso's girlfriend provided
storage space for a significant number of vehicle licenses and
title documents since discovered by police. The girlfriend had
also accompanied Reynoso on a trip to Lima. All of the eleven
arrests were at the direction of local prosecutors.



8) (SBU) Interestingly, one of the Reynoso/Koo associates,
Wilfredo Eloy Lopez Rosa (Lopez),was known to our FPU as a visa
fixer, prominent enough, in fact, to have been pictured and
identified on our "Buscones" poster (see ref B). Based on
information tying him to this case, police executed arrest and
search warrants for his home in Jamao al Norte on 23 DEC 2009.
Five hours elapsed between the time of Lopez's arrest and the time
these warrants could be processed, and when the ARSO-I and police
search team arrived at Lopez's residence, they found that the house
had been ransacked. One day later, back in the town of Mao, the
jurisdictional judge imposed an extraordinary preventive custody
order of one year's detention against Lopez, pending further
investigation. Previous ARSO-I cases have seen holding periods
never in excess of three months. While investigation is still
ongoing, it is apparent that Lopez played an integral part in the
counterfeiting and trafficking persons ring operated by Reynoso.



9) (SBU) While the embassy team was leading investigations in and
around Mao, GODR Immigration stopped a passenger attempting to
board a US-bound flight from Santiago using a counterfeit visa.
The subject identified Persio Antonio Sanchez Almanzar (Sanchez) as
the source of his counterfeit visa leading authorities to issue
arrest and search warrants. In Sanchez's Santiago apartment
authorities confiscated nine Dominican passports with counterfeit
US visas along with various other documents and cash. FPU assisted

SANTO DOMI 00001624 003 OF 003


GODR Immigration in confirming that the visas were counterfeit.
The visas fit the pattern of foils originally issued in Peru,
washed, reprinted by counterfeiters, and placed in genuine
Dominican passports. Sanchez reportedly admitted to distributing
the fake documents, but claimed that the forgeries were done in
Peru and then returned to the Dominican Republic.



10) (SBU) We have ample reason to expect that our ARSO-I
investigation will reveal additional suspects and scams. Remaining
to be analyzed are two computer hard drives from Reynoso's home
which the local prosecutor released to our embassy team on 22 DEC

2009. The team then FedExed the hard drives to Washington, to the
Computer Investigation and Forensics (DS/ICI/CIS) lab for analysis.
The hard drives will be returned to the prosecutor as soon as
analysis is complete and may still be presented in the cases
against Reynoso, Koo and/or others. We anticipate that information
from the hard drives will provide details into the network's
operations and new leads for investigation both locally and
internationally. Although both Reynoso and Koo are still at large,
we hope that their eventual arrest and questioning will provide
additional information about the international connections involved
in this counterfeiting ring. ARSO-I continues to coordinate
investigation with local officials and will remain in contact with
colleagues in USG offices in Argentina and Peru throughout.



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ONCE AGAIN, THE VALUE OF TEAMWORK

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11) (SBU) Comment: Local authorities, particularly the public
prosecutor's office in Mao, were extremely cooperative. The
embassy team was also supported by the local police as well as
infantry soldiers under the authority of the Army General
commanding the regional brigade. The embassy team, led by the
ARSO-I and including an FPU Investigator and our vetted national
police officer, was particularly well suited to develop local
contacts and facilitate cooperation among the different parties
involved in the operation. The ongoing investigation once again
demonstrates the effectiveness of a well-coordinated team from FPU,
DS and local authorities.



LAMBERT
Lambert