August 23, 2008

ICE deports international fugitive wanted in France for organized crime

MIAMI - A 52-year-old man convicted in Miami for visa fraud and wanted by the French government for organized crimes tied to numerous homicides and a fraud and embezzlement conviction was deported yesterday to France by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers.

Fred Jerome Serbin, a French national, was removed without incident and turned over to French National Police Officers who were waiting for him at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.

Serbin is wanted by the French government in connection to a criminal conviction of abuse of a vulnerable person, fraud and embezzlement, which he was sentenced on March 24, 2006, in Paris, France, to four years in prison and ordered to pay a € 250,000 euros in restitution. Additionally, Serbin was sentenced to another 18 months in prison for organized crimes relating to criminal organizations tied to numerous homicides. In 2006, French authorities issued a national and European arrest warrant for Serbin for his fraud and embezzlement conviction.

"Apprehending dangerous foreign fugitives hiding in the United States is a top priority of ICE and our international law enforcement partners, including the French authorities and INTERPOL," said Michael Rozos, field office director for the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Florida. "ICE is committed to ensuring the integrity of the nation's immigration system and it is in the interest of national security and justice around the world to capture and return wanted fugitives to their native countries to face justice."

ICE received information from the French National Police that Serbin was residing in the United States and failed to disclose prior arrests in France as part of his visa application. ICE officers learned that Serbin might be living in the South Florida area and launched an intensive investigation to locate the suspect. ICE deportation officers, working closely with INTERPOL and the French National Police, subsequently launched an intensive investigation to locate the suspect.

Further investigation revealed that Serbin had entered the United States on January 24, 2006, as an E-2 non-immigrant visa holder with authorization to remain in the country for a period of time not to exceed January 23, 2008.

On November 5, 2007, he was arrested without incident by ICE fugitive operations deportation officers at his residence located at 19701 East Country Club Drive, Building 5 in Aventura, Florida. He was arrested for having obtained his visa by fraud and subsequently convicted in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida for fraud and misuse of visa on July 23, 2008, and sentenced to time served. He was thereafter placed in ICE custody and processed for his removal to France under the provisions of Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Serbin's prior criminal convictions date back from 1982 and include indecent exposure, economic fraud, infractions against companies, breach of trust, theft by deception, fraudulent use of corporate assets, theft, forgery and fraudulent use of checks, abuse of vulnerable person and forgery/fraud of private person.

Earlier this month, local ICE officers also deported an individual wanted for murder and drug trafficking in Spain. Last year the Miami field office, which includes the state of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, deported 8,970 illegal aliens, including 1,782 criminal aliens and so far this year, the Miami field office has deported 9,719 illegal aliens including 2,120 criminal aliens.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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