i need help with a serious problem

[airassault101]

i hope that someone can help me here. my best friend called me up today with a problem that i can't solve alone. it seems that his ex-wife has gotten passports for his 2 kids by forging his signature. she is planning on taking tham to germany against his wishes and he fears that if she does get them out of the country that he will never see his kids again. we called the local authorities and they said that they couldn't touch it because it was a federal issue. we then contacted the feds who are dragging their feet. the fbi said that they couldn't do anything yet because the kids are still in chicago. he is filing and injunction on monday morening but i fear that it may not work. any ideas on a course of action. he is like a brother to me and i can't stand seeing him go thru this. we have tried to contact his congressman and doj but have had no luck. if anyone has any contatcs in doj, fbi,..whatever please help. i have exahusted almost all of my contacts and i can't get ahold of by friend joe who was ashcrofts cheif of staff while he was in the senate. we need your help.
thanks,
ken

[truthisjust]

the first goal should not be to arrest her for trying to steal the kids but instead bust her for fraud. That would prevent her from leaving the country for a while.

[Tutakai]

I worked as an intern at a Congressional office handling exactly these kinds of inquiries last semester. Generally, every Congressman and Senator has at least one individual tasked specifically to handle these types of cases. The State Department and the INS have Congressional Liaison offices dedicated for this purpose.

In short, get a Congressperson involved. Try the local district office first before you try to call Washington D.C. If your representative won't help, call your senators and other representatives in your state. Tell them the local Congressional office refused to assist (particularly effective if they are in different political parties).

Additionally, if you can prove that she forged signatures to obtain passports, there is a criminal complaint possible at two levels. First, forgery (state charge). Second, fraudulent obtaining of a U.S. passport (federal felony under anti-terrorism statutes). The INS is really hyper about such cases right now and they WILL act if notified. Even if your Congressional office refuses for some insane reason to assist directly, they should provide you with appropriate number for the local or regional INS office.

Also, the State Department has an office specifically dedicated to international child abduction cases. Any Congressional office should have the number.

Finally, try to get your Congressional office to contact Interpol. While the specific name of the appropriate petition escapes me, I know there is a Interpol petition which will flag the passports and cause an automatic detention (arrest) in any participating country (basically, anything in Europe).

If she does succeed in leaving the country, contact the U.S. embassy in the country where you believe she is headed. They may be able to assist. Most embassies' contact information is available on the U.S. State Department web site at www.state.gov.

Hope this helps. If the situation gets truly critical and you run out of resources, contact me backchannel and I will see what I can obtain from the office I worked at. I should at least be able to shake some trees.

[airassault101]

thanks for the imput. i will send it up the cahin to him. we have been trying to get her on forgery but the locals won't touch it beacuse it is a federal document but i told him to call have the passports canceled. anways i gotta run i'll call him tonight with the advice.
thanks,
ken