Four men were on trial in New Jersey on Saturday for impersonating immigration attorneys and officials to defraud immigrants, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, who announced the arrests on Friday, said the group staged fake court hearings, pretending to run a law firm in an elaborate scheme to defraud people seeking legal help for their immigration cases.
According to prosecutors who charged all five, the suspect made more than $100,000, laundered “tens of thousands” to other co-conspirators in Colombia.
The scheme led to confusion and devastating consequences for their “dozens” of victims, the Justice Department said. One man lost original court hearings due to fraud and was ordered deported “in absentia” by US government officials.
The four people arrested are Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, Marilyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, John Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez. A fifth man indicted remains a fugitive in Colombia, prosecutors said.
“The defendants engaged in this criminal conduct purely out of greed, as they laundered tens of thousands of dollars in victim funds to line their own pockets and those of their associates in Colombia,” prosecutors said in a court record filed Friday.
“In doing so, the defendants demonstrated a complete and utter disregard for the potentially life-changing consequences their actions had on their victims—vulnerable individuals who not only lost vital funds, but also lost their original immigration court appearances.”
US government officials say the five operate a fake law firm called “CM Bufete de Abogados Consultoria Migratoria”, none of whom are licensed to practice law in the US. The defendants allegedly found “clients” on Facebook and charged them “fees” ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. They also forged documents with US government logos.
By impersonating immigration judges, attorneys and officials with federal government agencies, the defendants pretended to represent their victims in sham court and other immigration proceedings. When a victim discovered the law firm was fake, the group “sent aggressive messages to the victim, including threats of deportation and demands for additional payment,” according to the Justice Department.
They were charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and two counts of forgery.
Over the past year, the Trump administration’s growing immigration enforcement operation has seen a growing number of people impersonating immigration officials in order to commit crimes, including kidnapping and sexual assault.
