The Cook County sheriff’s office has arrested the leaders of an alleged identity fraud ring that targeted migrants and fueled a rise in downtown retail theft.
Three Mexican nationals had directed recent Venezuelan migrants to steal items from Magnificent Mile stores in exchange for identity cards that would allow them to get jobs, Sheriff Tom Dart said Tuesday.
Police discovered the pattern after speaking to dozens of migrants with nearly identical stories, Dart said.
“They were being either told to steal things to get money, or specifically directed to steal specific things ... to either buy or trade for Social Security cards or American permanent residency cards,” Dart said.
The ID fraud ring is a sign of a bigger problem, Dart said.
“We have no illusions that this is the only one going on out there,” he said.
More migrants are being arrested every month for retail theft in River North, Dart said. Monthly arrests were in the single digits a year ago, but have risen to 92 migrant arrests for shoplifting in December, according to the sheriff’s office. That number is expected to keep rising.
“The numbers are staggering,” Dart said. “They’re increasing exponentially every month.”
The ID fraud ring was uncovered as part of the sheriff’s office’s investigations begun three years ago in response to rising retail theft and other crimes in the downtown area, he said.
After noticing the pattern of migrants shoplifting in exchange for IDs, the sheriff’s police began undercover operations. In a couple of weeks, police were buying the phony ID cards themselves, Dart said. The sheriff’s office executed a search warrant last week that uncovered nearly 500 fraudulent IDs, he said.
The three alleged ringleaders were charged with felony counts of duplicating identity cards. Dart said they had been carrying on the scheme “for some time.”
The sheriff’s office identified them as Facundo Donato Meneses-Garcia, 51, Francisco Javier Otero-Rosas, 42, and Keneth Jareth Ulloa-Rodriguez, 19, all of the 2700 block of South Hamlin Avenue in Little Village.
The ID cards were being sold to migrants for about $150 apiece, Dart said. In some cases, the stolen goods were given to the ringleaders, he said. In others, the migrants were told to sell the stolen items and hand over the money.
The crime ring was different than other types of high-end retail theft that have hit downtown shops, Dart said. In these cases, migrants were told to steal less expensive items, such as deodorant, from pharmacies and other stores, Dart said.
The theft ring highlights larger issues regarding the migrant crisis, Dart said, including how to get them work permits.
“A lot of these folks are purely trying to steal so they can get IDs so they can get a job so they can make some money,” Dart said. “This complex issue that people in Washington talk a great deal about needs to be addressed. ... It’s impacting our local communities.”
‘They’re vulnerable’
Migrant advocates say migrants are vulnerable to scams because of their desperate position.
More than 35,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since the fall of 2022, according to city officials. Nearly 14,000 of them are staying in city-run shelters.
But about 27% of people in those shelters are reportedly eligible for work permits. Despite the federal government’s attempt to speed up the distribution of permits, only about 1,000 people had received them in Chicago.
“They’re targeting these people because they’re so desperate to work,” said Maria Perez, a public health ambassador for the Southwest Collective, which aids migrants staying in city shelters.
Migrants have also been scammed into performing day labor for free, she said.
“They’re vulnerable,” she said.
Erika Villegas, who volunteers to help migrants, said she warned a migrant on Monday of a home sale scam. The person said they were offered a home for $1,100, Villegas said.
“That’s what we keep telling people. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” she said. “I’ve seen too many scams out here. It takes a village to help people out in situations like this.”
Contributing: Michael Loria
