Laredo Resident Indicted on Charges of Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas:

LAREDO, Texas – A 52-year-old woman who used multiple aliases has been charged with using someone else’s identity on multiple occasions and lying to authorities in connection with obtaining a passport, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Elizabeth Ann Berbel is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Dos Santos at 9:30 a.m.

Berbel, who turned herself in to authorities yesterday, is also known as Ana Elizabeth Gomez-Garcia, Ana Elizabeth Gomez Garcia, Ana Elizabeth Gomez, Anna Elizabeth Gomez Garcia, Anna Elizabeth Gomez, Elizabeth Berbel, Elizabeth Ann Gomez, Tina Gomez-Manns and Anna Gomez.

A federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment March 7. The charges include one count of passport fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft linked to the passport fraud as well as four counts of lying to a federal agency and three counts of misusing a Social Security number.

On March 22, 2019, Berbel applied for a U.S. passport, claiming the identity of another individual, according to the charges. As part of that process, she allegedly provided false information to include she was born in Chicago when she was not. The indictment further alleges she gave fraudulent information about her parents and provided a Social Security number that did not belong to her as part of the application process.

Along with the allegedly fraudulent passport application, the charges also allege that on two separate occasions, she had applied for a Texas driver’s license. In each instance, Berbel allegedly used the same victim’s Social Security number.

If convicted, Berbel faces up to 10 years for the passport fraud in addition to five years each for lying to authorities and for misusing a Social Security number. She will also receive a mandatory two years for the identity theft, upon conviction, which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed.

The Department of State conducted the investigation with assistance from the Social Security Administration and Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Bajew is prosecuting the case.