INS Inspector Charged With Selling Phony ‘A’ Numbers for Passports

A U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector has been charged with being part of a ring that sold phony so-called INS “A” numbers to Korean immigrants for an average of $25,000, authorities said Friday.

Stanford Medlock, 33, of Norwalk, worked with a second defendant, Chong Woon Kim, who found Korean nationals willing to pay for the “A” numbers which could be used to obtain a green card granting permanent residency in this country, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles J. Stevens.

Medlock would obtain “A” numbers from INS records and insert them into the Koreans’ passports, Stevens said. Kim would then deliver the passports which appeared legitimate but were fraudulently obtained, the prosecutor said, adding that more than 50 of the fraudulent numbers were sold.

Medlock and Kim will be arraigned Feb. 2 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.