Case Document 6-1 Filed 02/15/18 Page 1 of 5 FACTUAL BASIS FOR PLEA In conjunction with the submission of the accompanying Plea Agreement in this case, the United States of America submits the following statement setting forth the facts leading to the defendant Raphael Sanchez?s acceptance of criminal responsibility for his violation of 18 U.S.C. Sections 1343 and 1028A. If this matter had proceeded to trial, the United States would have presented evidence that would have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the following facts: The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement?s (ICE) Of?ce of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) serves as the exclusive representative of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in immigration proceedings and provides legal services to ICE programs and of?ces on a range of issues, including customs, criminal, and immigration law enforcement authorities and ethics. At all relevant times, Raphael Sanchez served as Chief Counsel of the OPLA Of?ce of Chief Counsel in Seattle, Washington, with responsibility over immigration proceedings in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. As Chief Counsel, Raphael Sanchez was entrusted with the enforcement of immigration laws and the safeguarding of personally identifiable information belonging to aliens adjudicating their cases through various immigration proceedings. While entrusted with this responsibility from on or about October of 20 1 3, through on or about October 25, 2017, Sanchez intentionally devised a scheme to defraud financial institutions, including American Express Company, Bank of America Corporation, Capital One Financial Corporation, Citibank, Discover Financial Services, and JPMorgan Chase Co., using the names of aliens in various stages of immigration proceedings with ICE, including K.K, F.S., S.L., R.H., MR, R.K., and NY. (collectively the 1 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION 1400 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC. (202) 514?1412 p-I Case Document 6-1 Filed 02/15/18 Page 2 of 5 ?Victim Aliens?) to obtain money and property by means Of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises. For the purpose of executing this scheme, Chief Counsel Sanchez transmitted or caused to be transmitted, writings, signals, and sounds by means of a wire, radio, or television communication in interstate commerce. For his own personal gain, Sanchez used personally identi?able information of Victim Aliens to open lines of credit and personal loans in their names, manipulated their credit bureau ?les, transferred funds and purchased goods using credit cards issued in their names. In furtherance of the scheme, Chief Counsel Sanchez used credit monitoring services to track Victim Aliens? credit scores to ascertain which person had the most available credit and wrote to credit bureaus in the names of Victim Aliens to change their registered addresses to his home address, or to contest account closings. In carrying out this scheme, Chief Counsel Sanchez obtained personally identifiable information of Victim Aliens by using computer database systems utilized by ICE and by accessing their Official, hard-copy immigration Alien iles to forge identi?cation documents on his work computer, such as Social Security cards and Washington State Driver?s Licenses in their names. For male identities, Sanchez used his own photograph on the forged licenses. For female identities, Sanchez used the photograph of a female murder victim published in a newspaper. Once completed, Chief Counsel Sanchez used these forged identification documents to open credit card and bank accounts in the names of Victim Aliens. Sanchez wrote his own home address in Seattle as the Victim Aliens? addresses on account paperwork and, in some cases, created public utility account statements in their names to provide the necessary proof Of residence in order to open lines of credit in their names or to conceal the scheme. Sanchez also manufactured a false earnings and 2 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT or JUSTICE PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION 1400 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC. (202) 514?1412 Case Document 6-1 Filed 02/15/18 Page 3 of 5 leave statement in the name of K.K. in furtherance of the scheme, and opened e?mail and online financial accounts in the names of Victim Aliens. Once the accounts were approved and opened, Sanchez made charges or drew payments in the names of Victim Aliens to himself or entities that he controlled. Sanchez set up a corporation named ?Royal Weddings,? had an Amazon Marketplace account, and used the trade names ?Cool and Quirky Classic Cars,? ?Cool and Quirky Cars,? or ?Integral These entities served as conduits to transfer fraudulent proceeds from accounts in the names of Victim Aliens to Sanchez?s personal accounts. Sanchez also used PayPal and mobile point of sale devices from Amazon, Square, Venmo, and Coin to process fraudulent internet transactions. During and in relation to this scheme, Chief Counsel Sanchez knowingly transferred, possessed, or used without lawful authority the means of identi?cation of a real person, R.H., to advance his wire fraud scheme. For example, a JP Morgan Chase account was opened in the name ofR.H. on or around July 5, 2016. Sanchez created a Gmail account in the name of RH. and listed it as the email address for this account along with Sanchez?s home address and a mobile telephone number registered to ICE DI-IS OPLA and assigned to Sanchez from at least October 2015 to February 2017. On October 15, 2016, RH. had a credit card charge of $8,239.99 to PayPal user, ?QuirkyCoolC? and on October 22, 2016, RH. had a credit card charge of $493.19 to ?Royal Weddings.? On October 24, 2016, R.H. had another charge to ?QuirkyCoolC? for $450. Sanchez admits that all of these charges were made by him using name and setting up this account resulted in a loss of over $16,000 to JP Morgan Chase and adverse reporting on credit bureau files. R.H., a Chinese national, was placed into immigration proceedings for abandonment - 3 UNITED STATES 1400 NEW YORK. AVENUE, Nw WASHINGTON, DC. (202) 514-1412 \DOOHlChU?I?hwwh-t Case Document 6-1 Filed 02/15/18 Page 4 of 5 of residency status in June of 2015, and has never been to Seattle, Washington, which Sanchez listed as address. Like with Chief Counsel Sanchez continued this scheme of forging documents, identi?cations, and creating ?ctitious e?mail accounts in an effort to open accounts and process charges under the names of K.K, F.S., S.L., M.P., R.K., and NY. For each ofthese alien victims, Chief Counsel Sanchez devised a scheme to defraud to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises and transmitted or caused to be transmitted, writings, signals, and sounds by means of a wire, radio, or television communication in interstate commerce. Chief Counsel Sanchez used the personally identi?able information of K.K, F.S., S.L., and NY to open lines of credit in their names, manipulated their credit bureau files, transferred funds and purchased goods using credit cards issued in their names for his own pecuniary gain. In a number of cases, Sanchez purchased goods online in the names of Victim Aliens and had them shipped to his residence. These individuals had of?cial business with ICE and due to their status of being deported or otherwise excludable were particularly susceptible to Sanchez?s criminal conduct. Many of those Victim Aliens located outside the country were not noti?ed that balances were due and owing in their name or that the debts incurred by Sanehez?s scheme adversely affected their credit scores. Chief Counsel Sanchez admits that the Victim Aliens were vulnerable due to their immigration status. The losses attributed to the ?nancial institutions, including American Express Company, Bank of America Corporation, Capital One Financial Corporation, Citibank, Discover Financial Services, and JPMorgan Chase in the names of Victim Aliens was approximately $190,345.63 for purposes of the Plea Agreement. - 4 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT or JUSTICE pusuc INTEGRITY SECTION 1400 NEW YORK AVENUE, Nw WASHINGTON, DC. (202) 514?1412 ooqcnm?Ihww Case Document 6-1 Filed 02/15/18 Page 5 of 5 As part of the scheme to defraud, Chief Counsel Sanchez also claimed R.H., MP, and R.K. as relative dependents on his tax returns for 2014 through 2016. ICE has identi?ed approximately twenty additional potential individuals in various stages of immigration proceedings with ICE whose personally identi?able information, including original Legal Permanent Resident cards and of?cial documents culled from immigration ?les, were in Sanchez?s possession at his residence. At trial, the government would have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Raphael Sanchez is guilty as charged in Counts One and Two of theInformation by presenting admissible physical and documentary evidence such as photographs, videos, recordings, e?mails, and documents, as well as the testimony of federal agents and forensic examiners. a hael A. Sanchez Defendant Date: 5 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PUBLIC INTEGRITY SECTION 1400 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC. (202) 5 14-1412