Assistant District Attorney To Investigate Credenciales USA

Assistant District Attorney To Investigate Credenciales USA

Loyo urges job agencies to hire illegal's with non-official IDs

By H. Nelson Goodson
El Conquistador Newspaper
3206 W. National Ave.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53215
414-383-1000
conquistador@bizwi.rr.com
July 18, 2008

Milwaukee - John T. Chisholm, the Milwaukee County District Attorney has assigned Assistant District Attorney Paul Hauer, the community prosecutor in police district two to investigate allegations of worthless IDs being manufactured in the area by Credenciales USA. Representative Pedro Colón who represents the area had requested the investigation after numerous groups and residents complained about the official looking IDs. “Mr. Hauer will determine whether the activity of Credenciales USA is criminal in nature, or refer the matter to the appropriate state agency or Better Business Bureau,” Chisholm wrote Colón.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice also received Colón’s complaint about Credenciales USA, but when contacted they would not confirm or deny the investigation.
Last weekend, Hugo Loyo operator of Credenciales USA, who manufactures worthless and non-official IDs went on La GranD 104.7 FM radio to plea with employment agencies to hire Illegal's. Loyo wants the agencies to hire undocumented people who present a Credenciales USA ID, according to a recorded announcement made by Loyo during a live show on the radio. It’s unlawful for an employment agency to hire anyone who is in the country illegally and knowingly hires someone without a Social Security number. Loyo seems to be promoting and advocating for local employment agencies to hire undocumented workers who use his Credenciales USA IDs whether having their real name on it or not.
Loyo also said, “Banco Amex Internacional LLC is a Mexican bank and not an American bank...the Credenciales USA IDs are accepted by our bank.” Loyo is the Chairman of Banco Amex International, and Mike Contreras is the President, according to business records. Both the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) state, Banco Amex International is not legally registered or authorized to operate as a bank.
No doubt, he seems to be conspiring to commit a federal crime. Unfortunately, Loyo believes he is above the law and is not doing anything wrong. Despite attempts by local banks, el Consulado Mexicano de Chicago, the Southside Organizing Committee, Voces de las Frontera and State Representative Pedro Colón to stop him from making the worthless IDs.
Credenciales USA is claiming that their secondary IDs and International Driver Licenses issued to their clients are recognized and acceptable to open bank accounts, boarding an airplane for domestic and international travel or obtaining a Wisconsin license plate for a vehicle, which Colón says these forms of identification are not acceptable in most transactions. Another worthless ID geared for undocumented workers is currently being advertised along S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. and is issued by Ameracard.
In April the ConsumerAffairs.com reported, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had cracked down on companies that sell these phony licenses -- also called International Driver's Permits (IDP) -- before.
“These so-called international driver's licenses don't give you the legal right to drive, won't help you remove points from your license, and aren't an official government ID,” Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said a few years ago after the agency settled charges wth two companies that sold these type of phony licenses over the Internet. “We're committed to putting the brakes on companies that make these deceptive claims.” The FTC also warned consumers they can be arrested if they give police a phony IDP during a traffic stop.
In the United States, legitimate IDPs cost $10 each, and can only be obtained from the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance.
A person who is legally in the country on a temporary basis can use their driver’s license of a country of origin as long as they can provide a valid Visa to be in the country upon request. Loyo claims anyone can get an international license, despite their legal status in this country. If a person is in the country illegally, their license from country of origin in not valid.
Loyo also criticized El Conquistador Newspaper and the staff for the news coverage dealing with Credenciales USA worthless IDs in prior weeks. He accused El Conquistador of lying about his dubious business practices and for taking advantage of unsuspecting people who purchase the worthless IDs. El Conquistador has been the only Latino newspaper reporting and standing up against Loyo’s profiting from unsuspecting clients in need of an identification card.
In Wisconsin, a person needs an official identification or a driver’s license to open a bank account and operate a vehicle. In 2007, Governor Jim Doyle signed 2005 Wisconsin Act 126 into law barring the Department of Motor Vehicle from issuing driver licenses and identification cards to aliens and residents without proof of legal status or a valid Social Security. The state legislature passed it to comply with the federal Real ID Act of 2005.
When Gov. Doyle signed the legislation, it provided a revenue to create and manufacture official looking IDs by Loyo and others who take advantage of their own people regardless of their immigration status plight.
The management of La GranD has not taken any action to take Credenciales USA radio programming off the air even though, they suspect Loyo is selling worthless IDs to their radio listeners. It’s unethical for La GranD to profit from Loyo’s promotion to sell the IDs. This is the second time around La GranD has put profits first rather then protecting their own radio listeners from this type of dubious business practices. Worth mentioning, La GranD has added a disclaimer at the end of Loyo’s program saying they are not responsible for Loyo’s radio programming content. Who are they kidding! Of course they are responsible, the right thing for La GranD to do is to take action and protect their radio listeners.
In May of 2007, Cesar A. Rodríguez-González, 27, who gained notoriety in early October 2006 for passing himself as a high priced curandero (spiritual medicine man) in the South side was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Rodríguez-González admitted in court he never had healing abilities and only did it to scam unsuspecting victims for money. He also had a radio program promoting his dubious healing abilities in La GranD and paid the radio station more than $35,000 to air his deception even when La GranD’s management suspected he was scamming thousands from unsuspecting people. The victims were lured into his fake spiritual practices through a radio campaign advertising blitz in La GranD, 104.7 FM a 24-hour Spanish-language radio station. Testimonials by several people claiming they have been cured were featured in the La GranD radio ad, which led listeners to believe that they had been cured by Rodríguez-González.
The criminal complaint states that at least 20 victims paid Rodríguez-González more than $50,000. Police suspected, he might have been paid up to $100,000, but other victims had been reluctant to come forward.
In this particular case, El Conquistador Newspaper took the lead in exposing Rodríguez-González in order to inform and protect the public about his scam. It was the right and ethical thing to do, as we are doing in Loyo’s case.