Three QPP workers face forgery charges

Published 7:15 am Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Three Austin residents face felony forgery charges after fraudulent documents were allegedly found in the home of a fourth man being investigated for assuming a dead individual’s identity.

Gilberto Briones-Vargas, 35, Raul Gonzalez-Madrid, 30, and Josefina Munoz Hernandez, 25, all face at least one count of aggravated forgery and could face deportation.

The three are scheduled for arraignment Dec. 17 in Mower County court.

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Authorities found documents with aliases linked to all three during a Dec. 1 search of 1704 Oakland Ave. E., according to a criminal complaint.

That home is where Faustino Munoz-Hernandez, 29, — the man accused of using a dead individual’s name to get medical benefits at the Austin Medical Center and to work at Quality Pork Processors in Austin — lived as well.

AMC staff contacted Austin police in late October regarding Munoz-Hernandez. He was charged with three felony counts of forgery Dec. 1 and is scheduled for arraignment Dec. 10.

The three new defendants also likely worked at QPP under aliases, according to pay stubs found at the Oakland Avenue residence.

Hernandez and Gonzalez-Madrid both admitted to officers that they had been working at the plant with aliases, the complaint states.

Officers ran the three aliases through a state database and linked photos of each to Mexican IDs with their true names that were also found at the home.