Burbank Woman Indicted in Forgery of Papers Intended for Aliens

A Colombian national who allegedly used sophisticated printing equipment to forge documents that illegal aliens could use to help get jobs was indicted by a federal grand jury, authorities said Monday.

Maria Hernandez de Franco, 40, who has lived legally in Southern California for 20 years, was arrested at her Burbank home July 1 by agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner told a news conference.

Agents confiscated 587 counterfeit Puerto Rican birth certificates, 12 forged Social Security cards, two printing presses and a typesetter at the home in the 700 block of S. 6th Street, Bonner said. It was not known how many of the cards were sold.

Puerto Rican birth certificates were probably counterfeited because they would show proof of U.S. citizenship while explaining why the bearer spoke Spanish, Bonner said.

De Franco allegedly ran the counterfeiting operation in conjunction with a legitimate printing business, authorities said. No other arrests are expected in the case.

In a five-count indictment handed down Friday by the grand jury, De Franco was charged with producing and possessing false documents and possessing a film negative for the production of Social Security cards.

She was released on $15,000 bail and faces a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison and a $1.25-million fine.

“We see here today the existence of a cottage industry that has cropped up in Southern California,” Bonner said. “This case is part of an alarming increase in the production and sale of bogus documents for use by illegal aliens in deceiving American employers as to their eligibility for employment.”

Bonner said the underground industry has blossomed because of the new Immigration Reform and Control Act, which makes it illegal for employers to hire illegal aliens.

Employers cannot be held responsible for hiring aliens who have fooled them by using bogus papers, said INS Western Regional Director Harold Ezell, who also attended the news conference.