PORTLAND — After 10 years, a Portland man’s fake identity has caught up with him, according to federal prosecutors.
Besouro Abdul Zagon, 52, was formally charged in U.S. District Court in Portland today on a 30-count indictment charging him with, among other things, identity theft, impersonating a U.S. citizen in order to gain federal benefits and theft of $76,000 in housing vouchers, $66,000 in health benefits and $51,000 in food assistance.
Zagon, who is originally from Antigua in the Caribbean, has been living as Earl Benjamin Jr. since the 1990s when he got a passport in the name of an Illinois man, according to court papers.
Zagon was born Donald Benjamin in Antigua in 1959 and changed his name in 1991. After moving to the United States, he applied for a passport under the name of Earl Benjamin Jr., prosecutors say.
An extensive investigation by the Diplomatic Security Service determined Zagon fraudulently obtained a passport, the court papers say.
Zagon has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial on July 5.
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