Top ICE lawyer charged with stealing immigrants’ identities

An attorney for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after being accused of stealing immigrants’ identities.
Raphael A. Sanchez, ICE’s chief counsel in Seattle, was charged with one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, The Associated Press reported, citing a charging document filed Monday in U.S. District Court.
He resigned from his position earlier this week.
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Sanchez allegedly stole seven identities of peoples “in various stages of immigration proceedings,” prosecutors with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section say.
Sanchez allegedly stole the identities to defraud credit card companies such as Bank of America and Capital One.
The charging document cited an example in which Sanchez reportedly sent information regarding a Chinese national — including the person’s permanent resident card and the biographical page of their Chinese passport — from his government account to his Yahoo account.
Sanchez is expected to appear in court Thursday for a plea hearing.
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