Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
A top lawyer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been charged with stealing immigrants’ identities to defraud credit-card companies, according to court documents cited by the Associated Press. Raphael A. Sanchez, who resigned as the special counsel of the agency’s Seattle office Monday—the same day charging documents were filed in court—is accused of targeting at least seven immigrants “in various stages of immigration proceedings.” Prosecutors say Sanchez used the immigrants’ identities to defraud credit-card companies, including American Express, Bank of America, and Capital One. In one case, Sanchez allegedly saved images of a Chinese national’s U.S. permanent resident card, a page in his Chinese passport, and a utility bill in his name as part of an alleged fraud scheme. He faces one count of aggravated identity theft and another of wire fraud. He is due to enter a plea in court on Thursday.