A United Airlines flight attendant used the identity of a dead child for 23 years. In a complaint filed against Brazilian national Ricardo Cesar Guedes, the United Airlines flight attendant was accused of identity theft. He allegedly used the identity of a deceased US-born child named William Ericson Ladd. Guedes was able to work for United Airlines by using Ladd’s identity.
The child was born in 1974 and died in a car accident in 1979. Ladd’s mother, Debra Lynn Hays, confirmed the information to Diplomatic Security Service special agents in July 2021.
Guedes was born in 1972 in Sau Paulo, Brazil but used Ladd’s identity in 1998. He successfully applied for a US passport using Ladd’s identity and even renewed his passport six times. The State Department only detected the application for “various fraud indicators” in December 2020.
Fraud Indicators Discovered by the State Department
Among fraud indicators discovered by the State Department is the issuance date of his social security number, issued in 1996. The department also discovered the death certificate of William Ericson Ladd having the same birth date as the United Airlines flight attendant.
Authorities later launched a criminal investigation on Guedes. Authorities tracked his fingerprints used for his Brazilian national identity document during the 1990s. The technical staff at Customs and Border Protection later compared the fingerprints to the ones used for the background check for employment.
Worked as a United Airlines Flight Attendant for 23 Years
United issued a statement and said that Guedes is no longer part of the airline. In a statement, it said that “United has a thorough verification process for new employees that complies with federal legal requirements”.
Since Guedes used the Ladd’s identity, he had bought a property in Lake Houston, taken out loans, and even married. Guedes even sponsored his partner to the US.
There is an average of 2,000 passport fraud cases every year. Authorities arrested Guedes in Houston Airport when he passed via the crew member checkpoint. He is charged with aggravated identity theft, impersonating a US citizen, entering a secure airport area with fake documents, and passport fraud.
