Peruvian arrested in Connecticut faces immigration fraud charges

Flor Consuelo Del Carmen Caballero Bernabe, 55, is a Peruvian citizen living in Darien who has been charged with immigration fraud offenses.

DARIEN, Conn. — A Peruvian citizen living in Darien was arrested Thursday and charged by criminal complaint with immigration fraud offenses.

The Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut reported Friday that 55-year-old Flor Consuelo Del Carmen Caballero Bernabe is currently detained facing the charges.

Court documents and statements allege that Caballero Bernabe traveled to the U.S. in 2000 on a non-immigrant visa and began using the identity and Social Security number of a U.S. citizen from Puerto Rico to live, work and maintain a driver’s license in Connecticut.

Prosecutors say Caballero Bernabe used the fake identity and Social Security number to apply for a U.S. passport in 2005, renew it in 2015 and use it to travel internationally.

The U.S. passport was renewed in 2021 in the name of Bryon Ruiz after Caballero Bernabe completed the Probate Court process for a name and gender change. Caballero Bernabe reportedly kept travelling internationally using the renewed passport.

Prosecutors further note that the investigation was launched after the person whose identity Caballero Bernabe had originally stolen applied to the Social Security Administration seeking Social Security Disability benefits in 2022.

That individual was informed that a person in Connecticut had been earning income using the same Social Security number. Caballero Bernabe also is said to have made several false statements about the matter to federal agents who were investigating the case.

The complaint charges Caballero Bernabe with passport application fraud, which is punishable by up to a decade in prison.

Caballero Bernabe is also charged with misuse of a passport, which is punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment, and making a false claim of U.S. citizenship, which could lead to a prison sentence of three years.

Furthermore, Caballero Bernabe is charged with misuse of a Social Security account number, which is punishable by five years of prison time, aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence, and making false statements, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors emphasized that complaints are only charges; they’re not evidence of guilt, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation is being led by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General.

The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a national program that uses resources from the U.S. Justice Department to prevent illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and protect communities from violent crime.

Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.

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Peruvian arrested in Connecticut faces immigration fraud charges

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