The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE, Virginia -- The last defendant in a case that blends immigration violations, theft and bank fraud is facing federal charges in Roanoke.
Arturo Tovar-Pena, described by authorities as a leader of a dozen-man criminal "cell," was still at large last year when his two brothers and nine others, all Mexican nationals and all but two in the country illegally, completed their string of guilty pleas.
Prosecutors described an operation in which men from San Vicente, Mexico, were recruited to cross the border illegally and pose as job applicants at construction companies. They returned at night, however, to steal blank payroll checks from the bottom of check packets. The checks were forged, then cashed using false identification documents.
The group run by Tovar-Pena and his brothers was part of a network that probably cost businesses several hundred million dollars over a decade, FBI Agent Kevin Foust said earlier this year.
Posted by Richard at June 20, 2007