Tonight a Guatemalan man is being held by Immigration Authorities in San Pedro - on suspicion of having multiple false Belize identity documents: from a social security card, to a voter's registration, to a passport with a US Visa. The 37 year old has been accumulating all of them for the last two decades during which time he's been living under a relative's name.
He hasn't been charged, and it appears he might not be - because the relative whose identity he's stolen doesn't live in Belize. Police say that without that complaint, they can't do anything.
So, despite the fact that this Guatemalan born individual appears to have been a serial identity thief, accumulating a fake Belizean birth certificate, social security, voter's registration - and he's on his second Belizean passport - he may be released without charges.
We're told the fraud started when he was just 12 years old, and now 25 years later, he has fully assumed all the identity documents of his cousin.
Of course he now faces the prospect of leaving his life and family in Belize behind - because - while police don't want to charge him - Immigration may choose to confiscate all his Belizean identity documents - on the reasonable suspicion that they were fraudulently obtained. Under his actual name, he has no status in Belize.
We'll keep following the story.
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