Thirteen foreign nationals were arrested this month and charged for a scheme to defraud migrants by selling fake immigration legalization services to help them gain lawful status.
The sham company, called Legacy Imigra, charged migrants for legal aid and document filings, but never actually performed any of the services they claimed to offer.
The foreign nationals from Brazil and Cuba also filed false documents, then moved to shake down their clients for more cash under the threat that their paperwork would be “lost” if they did not keep paying, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The Orlando-based fraudsters:
…falsely purported to be a professional establishment employed by immigration experts and attorneys who could assist individuals with immigration-related legal work. It was part of the conspiracy to give false, inaccurate, and incomplete legal and immigration advice to prospective clients to induce them to retain Legacy’s services. Legacy would falsify immigration documents to fraudulently obtain immigration status and benefits for their clients.
DHS also accused the 13 suspects of engaging in a “regular practice of hiring aliens knowing that the individuals were unauthorized for employment in the United States.”
U.S. Attorney Greg Kehoe from the Middle District of Florida said many of the victims of the fraudulent company were from Brazil.
“They were trying to go through the immigration process the right way by hiring a lawyer and getting the services and filing the documents,” Kehoe said, according to WESH-TV. “It was the people at Legacy that engaged in the fraud.”
“Our detectives worked in conjunction, along with Homeland Security, to dismantle this criminal enterprise, which has amassed millions of dollars by exploiting victims and their fear of removal from the United States,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said of the case.
Those arrested and charged include, Vagner Sorares De Almeida, 54; Juliana Colucci, 47; Lucas Felipe Trindade Silva, 34; and Ronaldo De Campos, 35, Erick Bruno Goncalves De Assis Pinto, 34; Nathalia Da Costa Ferreira, 43; Nathalia Gomes Ciriaco, 29; and Kelen Cristina Da Silva, 37, Issac Antonio Narvaez, 69, Ronay Castillo Salazar, 51; Rebeca Aldama Garcia, 40; Mijail Cabera Nunez, 52; and Lorraine Soares Oliverira, 32.
If convicted, those charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud could face up to 20 years in prison.
This is not a lone case of fraud perpetrated on migrants hoping to gain legal U.S. status. A recent article at Substack revealed an entire industry of fraudulent immigration services, some using fake AI representatives in videos posted to TikTok, to rip off vulnerable migrants on services that will never be provided.
In other news, a large chain launched by a woman who was hailed as a top immigration lawyer was busted for fraudulent legal services.
A huge immigration law firm with thousands of migrant clients is shutting down amid a lawsuit, allegations of fraudulent practices, and claims that it taught its tactics to other law firms around the nation.
The Seattle-based firm known as Luz Legal or La Luz del Camino Legal, founded by left-wing powerhouse attorney Alexandra Lozano, closed down permanently in June after Lozano gave up her law license to avoid facing a misconduct hearing by the Washington State Bar Association.
Further, Vinod Doddamani is facing a proposed $250,000 fine after investigators alleged he submitted 64 fraudulent documents across 32 separate immigration cases. According to the Department of Homeland Security, many of the asylum filings contained nearly identical narratives, descriptions of persecution, and supporting details.
Along with news that Lozano has shuttered her firm, a federal lawsuit was filed in Ohio against another firm that is alleged to have replicated the same allegedly fraudulent practices of Lozano’s Seattle firm.
These are just a few of many such cases now being prosecuted.
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