A Haitian man, Pablo Selmo de la Cruz, alias Félix Pie, has been identified as the ringleader of an international identity fraud network that provided counterfeit Dominican identification documents to foreigners, Diario Libre reports. In a recent crackdown, a Dominican court ordered the pre-trial detention of several individuals involved in this extensive operation.
The Barahona Permanent Attention Court imposed a three-month pre-trial detention order on several individuals accused of being part of an alleged network dedicated to the falsification of public documents, primarily identity cards, for foreigners.
Among those sent to prison were Dominicans Divisay Altagracia Amparo de Vásquez, José Alfredo de los Santos Gómez, and Haitian nationals Pablo Selmo de la Cruz, alias Félix Pie, and Yonel Raphael. Additionally, Modesto Ogando Alcántara and Nicauri Liselot Bone were ordered to post bail and report periodically.
The court also granted the prosecution’s request to declare the case complex. The Public Ministry, represented by Barahona’s chief prosecutor, Wellington Matos, and JCE prosecutor Esther María González, had sought this designation.
According to the prosecution, this criminal network operated in the southern region of the Dominican Republic, with its headquarters in the city of Barahona. The group specialized in committing crimes related to the falsification of public documents, often with transnational implications. Their illicit activities also included money laundering, harming both their victims and the Dominican state.
The prosecution alleges that Pablo Selmo de la Cruz, Modesto Ogando, and Yonel Raphael headed the ring. They worked in association with José Alfredo de los Santos Gómez, Divisay Altagracia Amparo de Vásquez, and Nicauri Licelot Bone, who operated the document falsification laboratories. The network also relied on individuals like Amauris Jesús Figuereo, Aquilino Alcántara, César Augusto Feliz Reyes, and Ismael Josué Gaurdaramos to obtain counterfeit documents for foreign nationals, primarily Haitians.
The investigation was initiated after the arrest of three undocumented foreigners who were found in possession of fake identification documents. They claimed to have obtained these documents from Selmo and/or Félix Pie, who allegedly provided them with the false identities in exchange for payments ranging from 70,000 to 100,000 pesos.
The Public Ministry established that the criminal group was well organized. It used a van to transport individuals to Barahona, specifically to the community of Enriquillo, where they recruited undocumented foreigners and provided them with false documents.
Following this information, the authorities launched an investigation to dismantle the criminal structure. A court order authorized undercover agents to identify the locations of the document falsification laboratories and determine the members of the criminal organization.
During the raids and arrests, authorities seized equipment used to create fake IDs, hundreds of counterfeit or altered ID cards, a National Police Intelligence Department badge, JCE stamped paper, plastics, thinner, and numerous altered birth certificates.
The forgery of documents is a result of the major failures of the authorities in Haiti to document its citizens.
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Diario Libre
16 October 2024