Mario Cesar Dos Santos Jr., 50, faces up to five years in federal prison for fraudulent use of government seals. But the charges barely scratch the surface of what investigators found.

Dos Santos is the president of an organization he called the "Chaplain Emergency Management Agency" — or CEMA — which he falsely claimed was a government agency endorsed by FEMA. It wasn't. It had no affiliation with DHS, FEMA, the FBI, or any department of the federal government whatsoever.

But it looked like it did.

According to court documents, Dos Santos created a logo for CEMA by taking the official Department of Homeland Security seal and modifying it to read "U.S. Department of Homeland Chaplain." He slapped it on everything — ID cards, badges, polo shirts, jackets, bumper stickers, and badge holders. The back of the ID cards carried the DHS/FEMA seal with no alterations at all. The certificates he printed bore the FBI seal.

Dos Santos organized multiple CEMA "chaplaincy training courses" at locations across the country. At these events, participants received identification cards bearing the counterfeit DHS seal, law enforcement badges, and course completion certificates stamped with the FBI seal.

The people who walked out of those rooms with fake federal credentials in their pockets? The government doesn't have a full accounting of who they are. During an undercover operation at one of Dos Santos's trainings on September 27, 2025, a confidential informant purchased CEMA merchandise — meaning the feds only caught on because someone happened to be in the room.

The question nobody has answered yet: how many training courses happened before that one, and who attended them?

This wasn't just fake badges. Dos Santos was running what amounted to a counterfeit federal merchandise store, selling:

CEMA's website and social media accounts all displayed the counterfeit logo and falsely identified the organization as a government agency.

It gets worse. In connection with his immigration case, Dos Santos submitted multiple fraudulent documents to fight his removal — including a "Certificate of Ordination" and a diploma from the "University of Berkley" in Michigan.

That university does not exist.

Dos Santos has been charged by indictment with fraudulent use of government seals and faces a maximum of five years in federal prison. The case was investigated by the DHS Office of Inspector General and the FBI, with support from FEMA, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, and the Federal Air Marshal Service.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida.

But this one raises a question the others don't: how many people are walking around right now with counterfeit federal law enforcement credentials that look like the real thing — and what are they using them for?