Fraud Tracker
Tracking the latest news on immigration fraud so you don’t have to.
Florida Staffing Co. Charged With Tax and Immigration Fraud
Two Ukrainian nationals made their initial appearance yesterday on a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Miami charging them with crimes related to labor-staffing companies they operated in Florida. The two men were extradited from the Kingdom of Thailand to the United States last week.
Former Bronx attorney pleads guilty to immigration fraud, ordered to pay over $30 Million in restitution: Feds
Kofi Amankwaa, a former Bronx attorney accused of filing years’ worth of fraudulent immigration papers under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), pleaded guiltyto one count of immigration fraud on Sept. 17. Amankwaa, 70, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Biden administration may soon restart immigration program that was paused for possible fraud
A program that let migrants apply for U.S. entry from their home countries that was paused because of potential mass fraud may be revived by the Biden administration as soon as this week, even though thousands of suspect applications still need review, two sources told NBC News.
Uzbek National Sentenced For Role In Long-Running Immigration And Passport Fraud Conspiracy
Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton has sentenced Dilrabo Obidova (36, Uzbekistan) for her role in a long-running immigration and passport fraud conspiracy. The Court sentenced Obidova to a time-served sentence reflecting the time Obidova was detained pending trial. The Court has also entered an order immediately deporting Obidova to Uzbekistan with no option to apply for asylum or any other immigration relief. Obidova entered a guilty plea in May 2024. Obidova’s husband, Abduvosit Razikov, was charged in the same indictment. He remains at-large.
Harris’s illegal immigration fraud factory
If you wanted to design a program that simultaneously exploited vulnerable migrants, enriched human traffickers, and flooded our nation with illegal immigrants, you could not come up with a better policy than the Biden–Harris CHNV parole program.
Secret US immigration loophole EXPOSED: It was created to fight crime, but the victims' visa is bulging to 400,000 cases and migrants stage FAKE robberies to get one
To onlookers, they look just like regular robberies — thugs pulling knives or guns on victims in gas stations, restaurants or parking lots, punching them and making off with a purse or a wallet. In reality, the stick up is fake, and the attacker is being paid by their 'victim,' most often an illegal immigrant who is staging the underhand ruse to secure a permanent home in the US.
Small detail on Reddit post unraveled foreign student's lies that got him a free-ride worth $85k at US university
A foreign student admitted to fabricating documents and lying about his life in order to falsely secure a free-ride scholarship after he left a tiny detail on a Reddit post. 19-year-old Aryan Anand was awarded the financial award in order to attend Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
San Antonio Woman Sentenced to 14 Years for Immigration Fraud and Smuggling
Kimberly Cruz, a 35-year-old San Antonio resident, has been sentenced to a 14-year federal prison term after masquerading as a legal advocate in an immigration-related fraud scheme. Court documents revealed that Cruz’s operation, which ran from April through October 2019, involved duping migrants and their families into believing she was an attorney capable of assisting them with their entry into the U.S.
Six Defendants Indicted on Federal Fraud Charge for Allegedly Staging Robberies To Apply for Immigration Visas
Six individuals conspired to stage armed robberies in Chicago and the suburbs so that the purported victims could apply for U.S. immigration visas reserved for certain crime victims, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Chicago.
New Mexico Supreme Court: Victim immigration history can’t be disclosed
New Mexico’s highest court says evidence related to an individual’s immigration status cannot be used in court proceedings in certain cases. The New Mexico Supreme Court says T and U visa application material will be prohibited in court cases within the state.
US Supreme Court to Review ‘Sham Marriage’ Immigration Finding
The US Supreme Court agreed to take up another case on whether courts can review visa determinations for spouses of American citizens. The justices on Monday agreed to consider whether Amina Bouarfa, a US citizen whose husband’s visa was originally approved, can challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s revocation of that visa.
It’s time to eliminate the U visa
It is bad enough that illegal immigrants are paying criminals to stage fake robberies so they can pretend to help law enforcement solve crimes, but now, Democratic sheriffs are passing out visas like candy to illegal immigrants who attack Republicans. It is far past time to put an end to all these shenanigans by eliminating the U visa.
Woman fakes robbery to obtain a U Visa
Three people are accused of conspiring to fake a robbery because one of the suspects wanted a U Visa. Prosecutors said Valenzuela Cruz offered Rivas Mardones $2,000 to pretend to rob her, so Valenzuela Cruz could get a U Visa which grants citizenship to victims of a crime. Fernandez admitted to being a getaway driver.
Texas man killed by bystander in what appeared to be a robbery. It turned out the robbery was a staged immigration fraud
An unnamed bystander in Texas did what Texans often do in January, and used his firearm to stop what appeared to be a violent robbery in progress. Now, police are saying that the "robbery" was in fact staged for the benefit of a fraudulent visa application, but the "robber" is still dead, and the fake "victims" are apparently nowhere to be found.
RHOA’ Porsha Williams’ text messages reveal husband’s immigration fraud motivated divorce
The divorce between Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams and Simon Guobadia includes allegations that Simon engaged in immigration fraud. According to court documents, Williams stated “that the news reports of Husband’s alleged immigration fraud, and what appeared to be an imminent threat of deportation, were shocking and affected Wife’s mental and emotional wellbeing.”
ICE investigation leads to convicted child molester’s indictment for naturalization fraud
ICE officers initiated an investigation that led to the indictment of a convicted child molester. According to the indictment, on May 9, 2017, Robert Davis fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship by making a false statement under oath regarding his naturalization application. In response to the question “Have you ever committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit, a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” he answered “no.” He also denied having ever forced anyone to have sexual contact or sexual relations.
Chinese billionaire pleads guilty to immigration fraud
Hui Qin, a billionaire from China previously recognized in Forbes Magazine, entered a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to various charges, including immigration fraud. As part of his plea, Qin agreed to abandon his Lawful Permanent Resident status in the United States and now faces removal from the country.
Operators of large-scale marriage fraud agency sentenced following HSI San Diego, partner investigation
Four California-based people have been sentenced in federal court in Boston for their roles in running a large-scale marriage fraud agency that arranged hundreds of sham marriages for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws. This included, among other things, obtaining green cards under the Violence Against Women Act by falsely claiming that the undocumented clients had been abused by American spouses.
Husband who stabbed wife to death just 5 days after marrying her for immigration status locked up for life
A man in North Carolina who fatally stabbed a woman in the neck 16 times only days after marrying her to obtain legal immigration status has been sentenced to life in prison. He was undocumented, he said, and the marriage was a way to “help each other out.”
City of New Haven refuses to release marriage records suspected of immigration fraud
Seeking an exception to state open-records laws, the Elicker administration refused a request to view documents at the heart of a scandal over how City Hall handles marriage documents. The request was to view marriage license documents for 93 couples whom former city Registrar of Vital Statistics Trish Clark reported to immigration authorities.