Construction Worker Arrested for ID Fraud

An illegal immigrant who works in Santa Barbara was arrested for allegedly using a Boston woman’s Social Security number to file his taxes. Francisco Vences, 27, a Ventura resident who works for Kenney Construction in Santa Barbara, was arrested by detectives at the construction company Wednesday after an investigation showed he had been using the fraudulent number.

The 24-year-old victim received a letter from the California Franchise Tax Board alerting her she had not declared $42,000 of income in her 2005 taxes and owed $1,700 in late taxes and penalties. After looking into the situation, the woman discovered the income was from a Santa Barbara-based company and that Vences had allegedly been using her social security number. Two others in Rhode Island and Georgia also were allegedly using the victim’s number, as it is common for fake cards to have the same number.

Vences allegedly had the fake card in his wallet, and had been in the U.S. for ten years after illegal entering from Mexico. He got his card from a man a friend knew who produced counterfeit documents. He began using the fake card seven years ago and began filing income taxes under the false social security number four years ago.

Vences was booked for identity theft, falsely impersonating another person and possession of fake identification.