Two held for stealing identities of the dead

You better sit down for the next story because the names you are about to hear may be that of your relatives. How would you feel if you found out that your loved ones who have passed away were now applying for Social Security cards? Sounds strange, but that’s what happened yesterday when the names of two deceased persons, including a baby, were used to cheat the system. On Monday evening, police responded to a call from the S.S.B. on Princess Margaret Drive where Honduran nationals eighteen year old Jose Luis Montero, twenty year old Irbin Zetina, and thirty year old Henry Vasquez, all fishermen of Mango Creek, were applying for social security cards. The three were accompanied by twenty-four year old Darwin Robateau. Police found Montero, Zetina and Vasquez in possession of false birth certificates in the names of deceased persons. The three were busted when the names they gave were entered in the system and officials realized that social security cards had already been issued under the same names. What raised even more eyebrows was that one of the men, who claimed to be Belizean, did not speak English. Further checks by the police confirmed that the birth certificates were fraudulent and had been issued in the names of two deceased persons. One birth certificate was issued in the name of a young child Irbin Zetina of San Ignacio Town, son of Ena Mabel Figueroa, who died at the age of one year eight months. Similarly, another birth certificate was for a deceased man, Henry Vasquez, son of Francisca Vasquez. The third false document, however, was issued in the name of Jose Luis Montero, son of Ida Perez, who is still very much alive. All three men are being held while the investigation continues. Robateau has been released, but police suspect he was facilitating the three to get Belizean documentation.