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The FBI says it happens more in Georgia than in any other state...and you could end up losing your home because of it. It's called mortgage fraud.Maybe someone steals your identity and takes out a loan, or maybe your company tacks on illegal fees. 12 On Your Side's Jeff Anderson tells you how not to be a victim. Shirley Alvarez made a career out of serving her country in the military. But after she got back from her last stint overseas in Korea, she says she got a nasty surprise."They told me I missed a mortgage payment," she said. She...

Liberals vow to tackle immigrant ID muddle The Liberal Party has said it plans to propose a motion to the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, on Friday, after The Local revealed that most immigrants have effectively been barred from receiving Swedish ID cards. The party will suggest that a state agency gets the right to issue ID cards to new arrivals in Sweden. Stricter regulations put in place in January by Svensk Kassaservice lock out unmarried immigrants from seeking a Swedish ID. The banks, the only alternative for a valid ID have similar policies. Fredrik Malm, MP and Spokesperson for migration issues...

Immigrants blocked from getting Swedish ID New rules introduced in January mean immigrants with the right to live and work in Sweden are being barred from receiving Swedish ID cards. A Swedish ID is required to exercise many daily activities in Swedish society, including voting, opening a bank account, seeing a doctor, or even hiring a DVD and buying alcohol or cigarettes. The new rules have been introduced by Svensk Kassaservice, an agency formerly part of Posten, the Swedish post office. The agency, along with some banks, is responsible for issuing ID cards in Sweden. According to Svensk Kassaservice's new...

Suspect charges $6,300 using judge's ID 9/3/2006, 9:13 p.m. ET The Associated Press     MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — The people who burglarized Macomb County Circuit Judge Mary Chrzanowski's home in the late 1990s got caught. She's hoping the same thing happens to whoever stole her identity and charged $6,300 in her name.The thief obtained her Social Security number and birth date, then opened accounts with a Syracuse, N.Y., address and ran up a $5,800 phone bill and $500 in credit card charges."Unbelievable," Chrzanowski told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens in an e-mail interview. "I guess I'm...

One City Council member’s idea to limit illegal immigrants in Farmers Branch has prompted a plan by opponents to promote and sell homes in the city to Hispanics - including illegal immigrants. A group of Hispanic and civil rights groups Monday announced Compre Farmers Branch, a consortium of real estate agents, lending institutions and others aimed at helping Hispanics buy homes in Farmers Branch. They’re hoping Hispanics will buy all 157 homes they say are on the market in that city - including the home of City Council member Tim O’Hare. Mr. O’Hare has come under fire by the groups...

NEW YORK - A Pakistani man went on trial Wednesday on charges alleging he agreed to help an al-Qaida operative planning a chemical attack against Americans sneak into the United States. Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to support the plot during meetings with two al-Qaida operatives and his father, a businessman held at Guantanamo Bay. "This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al-Qaida penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce said in his opening statement. Bruce said Paracha was trying to help Majid Khan, an...

Alleged Canadian al-Qaeda 'sleeper' agent set to testify October 25, 2004 OTTAWA - A man accused of being a member of al-Qaeda appeared in an Ottawa federal court Monday to fight deportation to Algeria, where he fears he may be killed. Canadian authorities arrested Mohammed Harkat nearly two years ago on a national security certificate, which allows Ottawa to deport non-Canadian citizens considered a security risk. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says Abu Zubaydah, a senior al-Qaeda member now in custody, told American authorities he helped train Harkat in Afghanistan. CSIS thinks Harkat was sent to Canada as a "sleeper"...

At Least 700 Have Identities Stolen SAN FRANCISCO - At least 700 people had their identities stolen during a yearlong scam by con artists who had signed up as clients of data-broker ChoicePoint Inc., the Los Angeles task force in charge of the criminal investigation confirmed on Friday When word first emerged this week that still unknown scammers had illegally obtained detailed dossiers on 35,000 people by posing as legitimate customers of ChoicePoint, the company portrayed it as a relatively minor criminal case, limited to California. But by week's end, it was shaping up to be a full-blown scandal with...

<p>At least three men reportedly were taken into federal custody in two Pensacola malls as the FBI and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service initiated a nationwide sweep Wednesday.</p> <p>Witnesses said plain-clothes agents closed Intrigue jewelry vendors at Cordova and University malls, Wild Things at University and possibly other shops.</p>

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- State police have charged two more Department of Motor Vehicle workers and a Chilean national in what investigators believe is a broad conspiracy to sell bogus Connecticut drivers' licenses and other state documents. The two DMV employees _ Venita Bines, 40, of Bridgeport, and Tracy Stevens, no age or address available _ were to be arraigned Wednesday in Bridgeport Superior Court, The Hartford Courant reported. The Chilean national, 37-year-old Kenneth Nelson of Bridgeport, was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit forgery and was held on $250,000 bail after a court appearance Tuesday. A judge ordered...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Al-Qaeda militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe have obtained South African passports, and authorities believe they received them from crime syndicates operating inside the government agency that issues the documents. The illicit acquisition of the passports, which allow travel through many African countries and Britain without visas, sent shock waves through South Africa after one top police official said "boxes and boxes" of the documents were discovered in London.

TERRORISM: Al Qaeda Group Busted in Italy February 2, 2003: During a routine sweep for illegal immigrants, Italian police rounded up 28 Pakistanis suspected of being terrorists. Police found two pounds of dynamite, 165 feet of explosive fuse and various detonators, as well as hundreds of forged documents and maps of metropolitan Naples. Authorities said "sensitive targets" were circled with a pen but would not elaborate, while Italian news reports said the possible targets included the U.S. Consulate in Naples and nearby NATO bases. One map was to the town of Bagnoli (outside Naples), where the NATO southern headquarters is...

TYLER -- An itinerate gun dealer caught with a cache of poison gas, machine guns and other weapons in an East Texas storage facility was sentenced Tuesday to more than 11 years in federal prison. But William J. Krar's motives, and those of his common-law wife, Judith Bruey, remain unknown to federal officials, who cast the case as a victory against domestic terrorism. "To the extent there was any plot to use these weapons, that plot was thwarted," said U.S. Attorney Matthew Orwig of the Eastern District of Texas. The couple has given only limited statements to investigators since their...

A young man went in to buy a car and realized he had been mistakenly identified as a terrorist. Ryan Allen (pictured, left), 19, turned up on a government list that includes Osama bin Laden and members of al-Qaida. Allen wanted to buy a new Chevrolet Cavalier. He filled out the paperwork at a Kansas City dealership and then the results of the credit bureau check came back. "I filled out the credit thing. I'm probably sitting there an hour ... hour and a half," Allen said. But the dealership's manager came back with what Allen thought was an odd...

<p>It began as a tip: Bureau of Motor Vehicles employees were on the take.</p> <p>It turned not on investigative technique, but a bit of luck.</p> <p>The woman who would become investigators' chief suspect -- Elizabeth Lang -- just happened to walk into the Speedway license branch that police had under surveillance.</p>

Bolivia Detains 16 Muslims on Terror Tipoff -Agency Thu December 4, 2003 09:08 PM ET LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's state news agency said authorities in La Paz detained 16 Muslims on Thursday after a tip-off from French police that some of them were planning to hijack a plane and attack targets in the United States. No independent confirmation was immediately available of the report from the ABI agency, which is regarded as a mouthpiece of the Bolivian government. It quoted Interior Minister Alfonso Ferrufino as saying most of those arrested were Bangladeshis and that they were detained at...

<p>PATERSON, N.J. — A man who allegedly sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers apparently fled the country for Egypt just before authorities came to arrest him in a raid on his home and businesses Wednesday, investigators said.</p>

NEWARK, New Jersey - A man accused of providing fake identification to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers was arrested at New York's Kennedy Airport after returning from Egypt, authorities said Tuesday. Mohamed el-Atriss was taken into custody by U.S. Customs agents when they noticed a warrant from Passaic County, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Newark. El-Atriss, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt, arrived in New York either late Monday or early Tuesday and faces extradition to Passaic County, Drewniak said. Federal authorities have not charged el-Atriss, but "he remains of interest to us,"...

PATERSON, N.J. (AP) - Secret evidence presented in a closed court session alleged that a man who sold fake IDs to two of the Sept. 11 hijackers had closer ties to terrorism than previously revealed, according to transcripts released Tuesday. In the end, authorities found no evidence to bring terrorism charges against Mohamad El-Atriss, and U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said Tuesday that El-Atriss "is not considered a threat to national security by us." In a plea bargain, El-Atriss was sentenced in March to five years' probation and fined $15,000 for selling phony documents. El-Atriss and his lawyer on Tuesday...

Law enforcement agents in Central Florida arrested a 26-year-old man Thursday in possession of more than 1,000 stolen blank birth certificates, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Department. Authorities said Jose Aponte was arrested on West Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala after he allegedly attempted to sell a blank birth certificate to federal agents. Aponte reportedly was found to be in possession of 1,021 blank certificates of birth stolen from the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Dorado, Puerto Rico, and brought into Florida. The FBI is charging Aponte with violations of Title 18 U.S.C. Section 1028, Fraud and Related Activity...