Two Chinese nationals on Saipan were already charged with fraud in connection with the scheme.
The two — Feng Dong and Ya Jing Pei — made their initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands on Friday and a continuation was scheduled for today.
Feng was asked to get his counsel after his financial records proved he can pay for it while Ya will have a court-appointed attorney.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Kirk Schuler is prosecuting the case.
According to FBI Special Agent David A. Patch, the two sold at least six Social Security numbers to some Chinese in Chicago.
Patch, who is assigned to the Asian/Eurasian Criminal Enterprise Squad of the Chicago Division of the FBI, said the illegal sale of SS numbers is usually done in Chinese and Korean communities in the states.
Their operation is well-coordinated and even passports are faked to match the information on the SS card.
“Chinese and Korean criminal enterprises frequently establish well-coordinated operations whereby nationals from the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea are smuggled for a fee into the U.S. via a variety of different techniques,” said Patch in his written affidavit to the federal court.
“Upon entering the U.S., these Chinese and Korean nationals frequently seek out and prepare to reside in ethnically similar communities namely the well-established Chinatown and Koreatown communities located in various large cities,” he added.
He said the illegal migrants from China and Korea need the SS numbers to support their application for employment, housing and utility services, driver’s license, bank accounts or credit cards.
“Based on investigation to date, law enforcement has learned that due to the fact that the majority of the PRC nationals who worked in the Saipan garment factories were females in their 20s and 30s, male identities associated with older individuals are more difficult to obtain and are therefore sold at higher prices,” he added.
The last clothing factory on Saipan closed in Jan. 2009.
During its peak, the garment industry employed more than 17,000 Chinese workers.
Feng and Ya were placed under surveillance based on leads gathered in Chicago.
On Dec. 16, 2010, authorities discovered 48 SS cards issued to former Chinese Saipan garment workers which were in Feng’s possession.
The cards with the prefix 586 were kept in a safe deposit box at the Bank of Guam under Feng’s name.
“Further, almost all of the Social Security account cards were affixed to a photocopy of name-matched biographical page, from a PRC passport, or names, dates of birth and Social Security account numbers released to individuals 30-34, respectively, were valid based upon [SS] records,” Patch said.
That same day, Feng was read his Miranda rights and agreed to answer questions at the FBI office on Saipan.
On Dec. 22, 2010, a consensually recorded conversation with Ya was placed by an informant.
Ya said in that taped conversation that she had some stock of SS numbers but their contact in Chicago had not paid her yet for the last batch she sent.
Feng and Ya were paid through their bank accounts.
Patch, through Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan, moved the federal court to issue seizure warrants for the two’s bank accounts with the First Hawaiian Bank.
