NCJ Number
87541
Date Published
1982
Length
275 pages
Annotation
Testimony from subcommittee staff and representatives of various Government agencies documents fraud and abuse in the issuance and use of Federal identification documents and the threat this poses to entitlement and other benefit programs.
Abstract
The subcommittee has been conducting a study of the problems surrounding fraud and abuse in the creation and use of U.S. passports and visas, Immigration and Naturalization Service green cards, and social security cards and numbers. The investigation has produced the conclusion that there is a growing international criminal market for illicit Federal documents, which have been illegally used to enter the United States, remain here, and then to obtain funds from various Federal programs such as food stamps, student loans, and social security benefits. The same documents are used to defraud State agencies and programs. Testimony also indicates that these documents are used in sophisticated criminal conspiracies to defraud banks and credit card companies as well as other commercial establishments. The problem is compounded by the fact that few Federal agencies responsible for paying Federal benefits have taken steps to counter the criminal use of false identification. Most of the agencies rely on the face of the document without verifying the information with the issuing agency. Testimony from a convicted documents forger and from a forensic expert notes the ease with which Federal identification documents can be produced, and a State Department investigator points up that agency's lack of attention to document fraud. A representative of the Postal Inspection Service reports on a major mail fraud investigation which heavily involves the use of false identities. Various exhibits are provided along with prepared statements.