Two people, including a notary public, have been charged in connection with a suspected phony document scam in Fredericksburg. Claudia Maria Zuluga-Agudelo, 38, of Richmond was indicted on 18 charges this week by a Fredericksburg grand jury. The charges include conspiracy, forgery, impersonating a notary, selling fake licenses and obtaining money by false pretenses. Lizzette Hagen, 42, of Ashland, a notary public, is charged with three conspiracy charges, according to documents filed in Fredericksburg Circuit Court. She was also indicted this week. It was not clear last night whether either woman had been arrested or exactly what their alleged roles were. City police Detective James Kuebler is heading the investigation and was not available for comment. But court records show that the charges are the result of an investigation that began Jan. 30 when a woman told city police that a business in Westwood Office Park was performing illegal document transactions for Spanish-speaking customers.
In an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Circuit Court, the woman said she went to "Tramites La Guadalupana" to get documents notarized so that her husband, a Mexican citizen, could obtain legal residence here. A woman named "Claudia Marie" notarized three documents with the notary seal of Hagen. Claudia Marie didn't administer an oath nor ask for identification from the customer, court records state. The employee also gave the customer a flier written in Spanish offering such things as international driver's licenses, business licenses, DMV registration and tax ID numbers and other services. The customer reported seeing several sets of Virginia license plates in plastic packaging inside a drawer at the business.