The ring sold counterfeit identifications, driver’s licenses,…
By Betsy Scheinbart
A highly successful forgery ring which operated out of two Jamaica locations was shut down and six suspected members were arrested, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced last week.
The ring sold counterfeit identifications, driver’s licenses, out-of-state identifications and green cards, the DA said.
The DA’s office worked with the New York City Police Department to investigate the ring, executing search warrants at Printing Services and Mailboxes Etc., 164-01b 89th Ave. and Photo King, 89-54 165 St.
A manager at each store was arrested, Brown said, but the two men told the Times-Ledger they were innocent of all charges against them.
Forgery records were recovered from both locations and gambling records were found at the first store, the DA said.
“This was basically a ‘two-step’ operation in which both locations depended upon one another to produce a final product,” Brown said.
He said the 89th Avenue location was used to take photos and collect other information needed for the fake documents. The second location printed and laminated the photo identification cards, Brown said.
Printing Services and Mailboxes Etc., which is listed in the phone book as Print & Mail Services, is not associated with the Mailboxes Etc. chain, said Brenden Jennings, a spokeswoman at the Mailboxes, Etc. corporate headquarters in San Diego, Calif.
The defendants are Jamaica resident Mory Camara, 33, one of the alleged ring leaders and manager of Printing Services; Alexandria Martinez, 38, of Jamaica; Kevin Balkeesoom, of South Jamaica; Emanuel Franck, 27, of Valley Stream, L.I.; Ralph Polynice, 39, of Bay Shore L.I., and Munson Hunter, 26, of Cambria Heights. A seventh is suspect is still being sought, the DA said.
The six were charged with several counts of forgery, criminal possession of forged instruments, criminal possession of a forgery device and possession of gambling records, the DA said. Each defendant faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
Camara, the manager of Printing Services, told the Times-Ledger he was not guilty of any crime. He said he posted bail of $2,500 and hired a lawyer, but his store was not involved with the production of any forged documents.
Camara said the manager from the Photo King store across the street, Munson Hunter, came into his store and asked if he wanted to help make identification cards. Camara said Hunter left behind sample ID cards, which the police later seized. Camara said Hunter was charging about $40 for the IDs
Camara said police officers took his fax machine and two Hewlett-Packard printers, which he said were used for printing fliers and other paper, not IDs.
At the Photo King, a man who identified himself as a store manager but who would not give his name, claimed innocence. “I do believe I’ve been arrested wrongly,” he said, adding that he was one of the defendants in the case.
He said the allegations of a forgery ring were completely false and that the man who does photo IDs at his store operated independently from the store.
“As a result of the investigation, we have dismantled a group which used very sophisticated equipment to crank out fake identifications, driver’s licenses and other forged documents,” Brown said. “For $45, one was able to get a phony New York State identification card in one hour, even an out-of-state identification or drivers license.”
The authorities seized four computers, two scanners, five printing devices, a laminator, several cameras, blank stock and completed out-of-state drivers licenses, the DA said.
Reach reporter Betsy Scheinbart by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 138.
