Man Sought in Sale of Phony Alien Papers

A smooth-talking, well-dressed con man posing as a Mexican consular official has been selling phony residency papers to people--among them a family bilked out of $30,000--seeking legal status as aliens, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.

An arrest warrant accusing him of two counts of grand theft and five counts of attempted grand theft was issued Wednesday in the name of Aaron Ramirez Palafox, described by investigators as a 32-year-old Mexican national believed to have been living in the United States since 1964.

Deputies admitted that was simply “the best name we’ve got.” The suspect is known to have used a number of other names, among them Arturo Sandoval, Adulfo Brandi and Jose Manzo Cruz. Detectives said his true identity has yet to be determined.

Mexican consular officials said the suspect has been operating his scam for two years or more.

Sgt. Jim Lally, leader of the investigative team at the Firestone Sheriff’s Station that has been looking into the case, said there are seven victims “that we know of now” and the list appears likely to grow.

John Bellardo, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said the new federal immigration law has led to “a proliferation” of con men preying on aliens seeking legalized residency status.

“It’s a common occurrence,” said William Carroll, who heads INS investigations in the Los Angeles area. “They’ll pose as immigration agents--anything. . . .”

Lally said the known victims attributed to Palafox include a family cheated of $30,000 and a jockey at Santa Anita race track attempting to get relatives into the United States who was fleeced out of $800. The names of the victims were not disclosed.

“Basically, the guy would contact people on the streets,” Lally said. “He was friendly, likable, very well dressed and well mannered. He had a (phony) ID from the Mexican Consulate. He said he had contacts with INS. . . .

“He offered legal residency papers that appear to be Xeroxes of real papers. . . . It wasn’t too sophisticated, but he was preying on people who didn’t know the difference. . . .”

Enrique Silva-Guzman, an official at the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, said he first heard about the suspect “about two years ago, when a person came in and complained.” Silva-Guzman said U.S. authorities were informed and the complainant made an appointment with the suspect in an effort to catch him, “but the guy never showed up.”

“Just recently, we were informed that the guy was at it again,” Silva-Guzman said. “The picture shows it’s definitely the same man.”

Detectives said they got wind of the suspect this time after a victim became suspicious, tailing the suspect to a motel in Huntington Park.

The victim contacted the Sheriff’s Department, and deputies obtained a warrant to search the motel on March 24. Lally said some of the phony papers were recovered in the search, but the suspect was gone.