Man arrested on charge of using fake passport

Jace Radke

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

The FBI would not say whether agents are investigating a man who was arrested after allegedly trying to pass through U.S. Customs at McCarran International Airport with a fake passport.

Imtiaz Hussain was taken into custody at the airport on Nov. 22 when he attempted to use a counterfeit British passport, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Lever said.

"He tried to come in with the passport and said he was going to the Lady Luck casino," Lever said. "He then told us that he purchased the fake passport from a vendor in Pakistan and that he was on his way to Virginia. He told us he is from Pakistan."

According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court by Immigration and Naturalization Service Inspector Marc Rowley, Hussain arrived in Las Vegas on Virgin Atlantic Flight 0043 from London under the name Ghazanfar Ali.

"During routine questioning about the purpose of the trip Hussain appeared to be very nervous," Rowley wrote.

Rowley wrote that he noticed the bottom of the passport photo had a moon-shaped nick in it although passport photos are typically cut with precision tools.

The passport was taken to a fraudulent document lab and Hussain was questioned further. During that conversation, Hussain initially said his reservations at the Lady Luck were made by a friend in California, then he said by his brother-in-law in Virginia.

Hussain had no reservations at the Lady Luck under his name or under Ali.

Hussain later confessed that he had been denied a visa to enter the U.S. previously and that's why he purchased the false passport from a document vendor in Pakistan.

Rowley wrote that Hussain also said he bought a counterfeit British driver's license to match the passport and a Pakistani passport under a different name to get from Pakistan to England. He paid $1,935 for the documents.

FBI spokesman Daron Borst said that Hussain is being detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, but would not say whether the FBI was investigating Hussain.

"Department of Justice policy forbids us from discussing possible investigations," Borst said.

On Tuesday, Attorney General John Ashcroft named 93 criminal defendants who are a part of the Sept. 11 investigation, including alleged middlemen in Northern Virginia who helped some of the hijackers obtain false state identification cards.

Kenys A. Galicia, a notary public, and Luis Martinez-Flores are scheduled to face trial in Virginia in December on charges of identification document fraud, according to the Washington Post.

Prosecutors allege the pair helped several of the Sept. 11 hijackers obtain Virginia identification cards, but according to court documents federal officials do not believe either had any idea what the hijackers were planning.

Until Sept. 21, Virginia allowed residence and identity to be proven with notarized forms, while most other states require official documents, such as a utility bill or passport.