PHOENIX, Ariz. – A 60-year-old Mexican national living in Arizona has been indicted by a federal grand jury for passport and visa fraud after authorities discovered he had been living under the stolen identity of a deceased U.S. citizen for more than four decades.
Enrrique Ricardo Diaz Vazquez, also known as Gene Edward Katzorke, was arrested on March 7, 2025, at the Western Passport Center in Arizona. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, Diaz Vazquez had successfully obtained multiple U.S. passports since 1986 using forged documents, including an Arizona driver’s license and a U.S. birth certificate.
How Investigators Uncovered the Fraud
Authorities flagged Diaz Vazquez’s identity in 2022 when a routine review of his passport renewal application led investigators to an obituary from the 1960s for a child named Gene Edward Katzorke. Further investigation by the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) revealed that the real Gene Edward Katzorke had died in 1966 at just two years old.
Digging deeper, investigators found that the stolen identity was linked in criminal databases to Diaz Vazquez, a Mexican national.
A Shocking Criminal Past
Diaz Vazquez confessed to law enforcement that he assumed Katzorke’s identity decades ago after selecting the name from a cemetery headstone. His motivation? He wanted to join the U.S. military. Under his stolen identity, he successfully enlisted but later fled to Mexico after facing criminal charges for the homicide of a nine-month-old infant in Tucson, Arizona.
Ironically, Diaz Vazquez was later deported from Mexico back to the U.S. under the belief that he was an American citizen—allowing him to continue living under the stolen identity undetected for years.
Legal Consequences
Diaz Vazquez now faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of passport and visa fraud.
Federal authorities, including the DSS Tucson Resident Office and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, conducted the investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Sydney Yew is prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely a charge, and Diaz Vazquez remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
