New York – State and federal authorities Wednesday announced the unsealing of an indictment charging 15 individuals with crimes including producing fake identification documents, using those documents to commit various fraud crimes, and selling and transporting stolen vehicles.

As alleged in the 16-count indictment returned by the grand jury in Manhattan federal court, the defendants and their co-conspirators produced false identification documents purporting to have been issued by state and federal government authorities, including driver's licenses, resident alien cards, social security cards, and tax identification documents.  

The false identification documents were produced in the names of fraudulent identities, to which the defendants referred as "chickens."  In order to build financial credit for these fake identities, the defendants, among other things, fraudulently established bank accounts, credit card accounts, apartment leases, and telephone and utility accounts in the names of the "chickens."