$5,000 in Fees Disappears at Amnesty Office
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Federal authorities are investigating the disappearance of about $5,000 in amnesty application fees from the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s office in Santa Ana.
George Newland, director of the Santa Ana office, said the INS Office of Professional Responsibility and the U.S. attorney’s office are investigating, and that they have a suspect in the disappearance.
“It’s all over with except for the final arrest and going to court,” Newland said.
The checks apparently were not filled out completely when they were submitted with the legalization applications. In some cases, an INS official said, applicants left blank the designee; in other cases, they may have written only “INS,” enabling a thief to fill in a last name, such as Smith, the source said.
Although the checks vanished after they were submitted to the INS, the disappearance is delaying the processing of about 30 amnesty applications.
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