Nicaraguan National Extradited from Costa Rica to Face Passport Fraud and Counterfeit Currency Charges

MIAMI - A Nicaraguan national has been extradited from Costa Rica to face charges in two indictments unsealed today alleging a scheme to furnish counterfeit United States passports and traffic in counterfeit United States currency.

According to court records, between January and June 2020, Armando Morales Obando, 63, residing in Costa Rica, allegedly conspired with others to manufacture and sell counterfeit U.S. passports to individuals in South Florida. Morales Obando allegedly negotiated the sale of five fraudulent U.S. passports, coordinated the collection of payments totaling $5,500, and arranged for the passports to be shipped from Nicaragua to Broward County. The counterfeit passports allegedly contained the identifying information of real individuals but bore photographs of other persons and were represented as valid documents for international travel.

Additionally, Morales Obando allegedly conspired with others to manufacture and distribute counterfeit U.S. currency. Morales Obando and his co-conspirators allegedly created $20,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency and exchanged it for $6,000 in genuine U.S. currency.

Morales Obando is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., two counts of passport fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. In a related case, Morales Obando is charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. and uttering counterfeit currency. If convicted, Morales Obando faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the counterfeit currency count, up to 10 years in prison on each passport fraud count, up to five years in prison on each conspiracy counts, and a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence on each aggravated identity theft count.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Ryan McSeveney of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Miami Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement. The Costa Rican government provided valuable assistance in securing the extradition of Morales Obando.

The DSS Miami Field Office and HSI Miami are investigating the case, with assistance from the DSS Overseas Criminal Investigations Unit at U.S. Embassy San José, and U.S. Secret Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Maultasch is prosecuting both cases.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.sdfl.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or at http://pacer.sdfl.uscourts.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link., under case numbers 24-cr-20431 and 24-cr-20552.

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