Federal authorities charged the chief counsel for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Seattle field office on Tuesday with stealing the identities of several immigrants.
Raphael Sanchez, who resigned on Monday, allegedly stole identifying information—including copies of energy bills, foreign passports, and resident cards—from seven people involved in “various stages” of immigrant proceedings, according to court documents. Sanchez is accused of stealing the identities to defraud multiple financial institutions, including Bank of America, Capitol One, CitiBank, and JP Morgan & Chase, court documents show.
Sanchez is now facing one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of wire fraud. He is expected to enter a plea in court on Thursday.
