Making Immigration Happen
Chicago Woman Arrested for Selling Fraudulent Identity Documents to Illegal Aliens
A woman was arrested Wednesday, February 13, 2013, on charges she allegedly sold fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens. These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigra

Tag Archives: blackmail

Man Arrested for Impersonating ICE Officer, Threatened and Defrauded Immigrants

A New Jersey man was arrested Oct. 12, 2012, on charges of falsely impersonating a federal officer in order to defraud aliens seeking immigration assistance. The arrest is the result of an investigation being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

Ruben Alvarado, 27, of Elizabeth, N.J., is charged with one count of impersonating a federal officer and one count of identification document fraud.

According to court documents, from September 2009 through May 2011, Alvarado pretended to be an officer or employee acting under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE and the Transportation Security Administration. Alvarado targeted victims, via Facebook and in person, who desired to obtain federal employment, legal status, or work or travel authorization in the United States.

Alvarado would provide his victims false approvals of their applications, often on forms inappropriate to the relief requested, that bore his signature as a purported officer of the United States. Alvarado would threaten victims who complained that the materials were not genuine by saying that his position at ICE vested him with the power to have them and their children deported. Alvarado took no action to further his victims’ legal or employment status, but demanded and obtained payments from his victims totaling more than $17,000.

If convicted of the impersonation charge, Alvarado faces three years in prison, and on the identification document fraud charge, 15 years in prison. Both also carry a maximum fine of $250,000.

Assisting OPR in the investigation was the DHS Office of Inspector General in Miami, Fla., and the Union County (N.J.) Prosecutor’s Office.

ICE Deports Slovenian Fugitive for Blackmail

A Slovenian national, who is wanted in his native country for blackmail, was deported Tuesday, September 11, 2012, by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

After being flown to New York City from St. Louis, Okica Pajazetovic, 35, was escorted to Ljubljana, Slovenia, on a commercial flight. Upon his arrival in Slovenia, ERO officers transferred him to Slovenian authorities.

According to Slovenian court records, Pajazetovic’s criminal charges stem from two separate incidents in December 2001 and March 2003.

In 2001 he allegedly demanded 1,000 Deutsche Marks, Germany’s former currency, from another man. When his victim refused to pay, Pajazetovic is alleged to have made threatening phone calls to the victim’s wife and daughter. In 2003 Pajazetovic allegedly illegally purchased a pistol and ammunition; the next day he accosted another victim, a relative of his first victim, by holding the weapon to his head at the James Dean Pub in Ljubljana.

On March 26, 2009, Judge Mateja Luzovec from the District court in Ljubljana in Slovenia issued an arrest warrant for Pajazetovic on blackmail charges.

On Nov. 25, 2010, Interpol published a warrant on Pajazetovic for blackmail.

Based on information in the Interpol notice, U.S. law enforcement authorities were guided to a relative of Pajazetovic’s living in the St. Louis area. Pajazetovic was apprehended July 31 without incident at his St. Louis residence by members of ERO’s local Fugitive Operations Team.

“This removal allows Slovenian authorities to continue to seek justice for crimes committed in their country,” said Ricardo Wong, field officer director for ERO St. Louis. “We are resolute in our commitment to identify, arrest and remove aliens who falsely believe they can escape legal issues in their home country by hiding in ours.”

Records show that Pajazetovic entered the United States in 2003 in Chicago as a visitor, and failed to leave when his visa expired. He was issued an Order of Deportation the day he was arrested on immigration violations. He has remained in ERO custody since his July 31 arrest.

ERO’s Fugitive Operations Teams are specially trained to apprehend foreign fugitive aliens. Interpol, the world’s largest international police organization with 188-member countries, facilitates international police cooperation.