Thursday, February 22, 2007

Three Charged with separate immigration fraud schemes

Three Charged with separate immigration fraud schemes

February22, 2007


Three defendants have been charged with conducting separate immigration fraud schemes in Santa Ana and are being held on $1 million bail.

Laura Margaret Friend, 56, Laguna Niguel, California Financial and Legal Center
Milad Ibraham Hanna, 64, Villa Park , Orange County 's Center of Legal Services
Julio Orlando Cortez, 58, Santa Ana , J&J Immigration Services
The defendants are accused of collecting thousands of dollars over several years by representing to illegal immigrants that they could help them obtain work permits and legal residency in the United States for a fee. In each case, they are accused of submitting an application for political asylum on behalf of the victims without their knowledge or consent even though none of the victims were eligible for political asylum under the Immigration and Nationality Act. By filing these applications, the victims were channeled into U.S. Federal Court, where they were all ultimately ordered to be deported from the United States .

Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator RonSemen at (714) 648-3620, or call the Immigration Fraud Victim Hotline at (714) 648-3626.

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