COAST GUARD, INS ARREST TWO FLORIDA SHIPPING AGENTS FOR FRAUD

COAST GUARD, INS ARREST TWO FLORIDA SHIPPING AGENTS FOR FRAUD    The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have announced the arrests of two shipping agents in Miami in a case allegedly involving merchant marine document fraud.
   The two agents, Freddy Alvaredo and Julio Gonzalez, were both charged with violations of 18 U.S.C. 1001, False Official Statements, which are punishable by five years’ imprisonment. Gonzalez was also charged with violating 8 U.S.C. 1324, Alien Smuggling, punishable by a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Released on percentage bonds, the defendants will be arraigned August 5.
   Jim DeVino, the Coast Guard’s special agent in charge, said the arrests would have an impact “on stemming the illegal flow of fraudulent merchant mariner documents in South Florida.”
   The government alleged that the two agents, over an eight-month period, trafficked in medical certifications and employment letters stating that individuals were employees of maritime companies — which would help them obtain U.S. work visas at American consulates abroad.
   Alvaredo and Gonzalez also allegedly had fraudulent licenses of mariners, ranging from ship masters, mates and electricians. The documents involved were generally Panamanian, Colombian, and Honduran in origin.
   In addition, the Coast Guard and the INS seized more than $102,000 in cash, after executing search warrants at two locations on the Miami River.