The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced Thursday that a Mexican national living in Arizona has been charged with passport and visa fraud for allegedly using the identity of a deceased child to reside in the United States for decades.
According to court documents, Enrrique Ricardo Diaz Vazquez, 60, posed as Gene Edward Katzorke and applied for a US passport in 1986 with an Arizona driver’s license and a US birth certificate.
Diaz Vazquez renewed his passport several times over the years, continuing to use the previously issued document to maintain his false identity, according to the office.
The office stated that the passport renewal process was flagged in 2022 after authorities discovered an obituary for Gene Edward Katzorke, a two-year-old child who died in 1966.
According to the office, the US Diplomatic Security Service conducted an investigation that linked Katzorke’s name in criminal databases to Diaz Vazquez, a Mexican national born in Guadalajara.
Diaz Vazquez was arrested on March 7, 2025, after attending a scheduled appointment at the Western Passport Center to discuss his most recent passport application, according to the office.
According to the office, Diaz Vazquez admitted his true identity during a post-arrest interview, saying he chose the name Katzorke after visiting a cemetery.
Diaz Vazquez successfully joined the United States military under an assumed identity, but fled to Mexico after being charged with the death of a nine-month-old infant in Tucson, according to the office.
The office confirmed that Diaz Vazquez was deported back to the United States under the mistaken belief that he was a citizen, and that he has since continued to live under the false name.
The maximum penalty for passport and visa fraud is ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the office.
