Fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger Found with Fake ID Cards

American gang leader James “Whitey” Bulger has finally been captured after sixteen years on the run. Eighty one year old James or “Whitey” as he was known due to his white hair had been on the run from police in connection with nineteen murders. Bulger had used a number of different fake ID cards to conceal his real identity over the sixteen years he was on the run. The fake identity cards included fake driving licenses, fake national ID card, fake social security card and fake medical card. He used a number of fake names which police suspect were in connection with identity theft.

In the sixties and seventies Whitey was the leader of the Irish American Winter Hill Gang who were involved in loan sharking, gambling and drug dealing. The Winter Hill Gang was based in Boston United States and was well known by the police and other gangs. Bulger had been working as an informant for the police grassing up rival gangs to keep his own gang protected from the law. Bulger went on the run before he was due to be arrested by the police in connection with the nineteen killings

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Whitey was on America’s top ten most wanted criminals list alongside Asama Bin Landen. The police had started a campaign to catch Whitey and his partner Catherine Greig and eventually got a tip off. Whist searching the property the police found a number of fake ID cards for both Bulger and his partner. Catherine had a number of fake identity cards in different names including fake social security cards and fake driving license. One of Bulgers family members had provided them for the fake identity cards allowing the pair to live under different names for the sixteen years Whitey was on the run. Police also found a large amount of cash and a collection of guns along with the fake identity cards.

Martin Scorsese made a film about James “Whitey” Bulger in 2007 called The Departed. James was played by Jack Nicholson with other top actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. The Film won four Academy Awards and Martin Scorsese won an Oscar for best picture.

The sophistication of technology today played a large part in both James “Whitey” Bulger and Catherine Greig being able to stay on the run using fake ID cards. Fake ID cards are widely available on the internet that range from fake driving licenses to fake passports along with many other fake identity cards.