Man may face deportation after forgery charge

Published 10:42 am Tuesday, April 13, 2010

An Austin man was charged with felony forgery and could be deported after authorities were notified of a possible identify theft by a Texas man.

Felix Lopez-Gomez, 51, was charged Monday with two counts of felony forgery and one count of identify theft, all felonies. He is scheduled to appear Tuesday in court.

According to a criminal complaint, the 46-year-old Texas man called Mower County authorities in late March to report that his tax documents listed “Quality Pork Processors” in Austin as an employer, which led to a reported $3,000 in unpaid income taxes. The man said he had never worked at QPP or even been to Minnesota.

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Authorities investigated the man’s name and found it linked to a man living at 21950 581st Ave. in Austin. They also contacted QPP and requested work documents in the name, which were supplied.

On April 9, officers went to QPP to interview the worker, who admitted that his true name was Lopez-Gomez and that he had purchased a birth certificate and Social Security card in the other man’s name. Lopez-Gomez said he made the purchase several years ago when he came to the U.S. to work on a farm, but he did not identify where the farm was or who sold him the documents, the complaint states.

Lopez-Gomez was shown a photo of the man whose identify he had allegedly used fraudulently and said he never met him. Lopez-Gomez was then arrested.