US group allegedly ran fake law firm and court proceedings to scam immigrants
Source: The Guardian
Sat 21 Feb 2026 13.48 EST
Last modified on Sat 21 Feb 2026 13.51 EST
Four people were arraigned on Saturday in New Jersey for allegedly posing as immigration attorneys and officials to scam immigrants, the justice department said. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, who announced the arrests on Friday, said the group pretended to run a law firm, and staged fake court proceedings, in an elaborate scheme to defraud people seeking legal help for their immigration cases.
According to prosecutors, who charged five people in total, the accused made more than $100,000, with “tens of thousands” of it laundered to other co-conspirators in Colombia. The scheme led to confusion and devastating consequences for their “dozens” of victims, the Department of Justice said. One person missed actual court hearings because of the deception and was ordered deported by US government officials “in absentia”.
The four people arrested were Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez. The fifth person charged is at large in Colombia, prosecutors said.
“The defendants engaged in this criminal conduct entirely because of greed, lining their own pockets and those of their coconspirators in Colombia to whom they laundered tens of thousands of dollars of victims’ funds,” prosecutors said in a court record filed on Friday.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/new-jersey-immigration-scam