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Con artists posing as immigration lawyers created fake legal documents and even staged sham court proceedings to dupe migrants seeking legal pathways to U.S. residency out of their hard-earned money, according to a five-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court on Friday.
The indictment charges five defendants with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and two counts of false impersonation of an officer or employee of the United States, according to U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr.
Three of the defendants, Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, 25, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez, 29, and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez, 38, were arrested Friday afternoon at Newark Liberty International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Colombia using one-way tickets.
A fourth defendant, 24-year-old Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, was caught at a restaurant in New Jersey, while a fifth, unnamed defendant remains at large.
Jhoan and Daniela Ramirez and Pineda are all listed as living in New Jersey, as well as Ibagué, Colombia, while Alexander Ramirez is listed as residing in Ibagué, Colombia, according to federal prosecutors. The feds did not clarify the relationship between the defendants, three of whom share the same last name.
Between March 2023 and November 2025, the scammers portrayed themselves as lawyers operating out of a bogus immigration law firm, called CM Bufete De Abogados Consultoria Migratoria, who solicited prospective clients primarily through Facebook, prosecutors said.
After billing their victims fees ranging from hundreds up to thousands of dollars, the defendants sent them fake documents doctored to appear official, with the symbols of federal agencies and sometimes referencing the actual ongoing immigration court cases of their “clients,” prosecutors said.
The fraudsters went so far as to host sham immigration proceedings, including asylum interviews and court appearances via video conference, in which the defendants donned judicial robes and law enforcement uniforms to impersonate court officials. Adding to the ruse, Department of Homeland Security flags and signs reading “United States Citizenship and Immigration Services” appeared in the background, prosecutors said.
Although legitimate immigration court proceedings are conducted in English, the con artists held their bogus court interviews in Spanish to put their victims at ease, according to prosecutors.
When one of their victims realized the sham and sought legitimate legal counsel, the defendants sent him messages threatening deportation, court documents show.
In some cases, the defendants told their victims their cases had been successfully resolved, according to prosecutors, who said the defendants were uncredentialed and, in fact, offered their “clients” no legitimate legal service whatsoever.
As a result, some of their victims missed their actual court appearances and at least one victim was ordered deported as a result.
The government’s investigation uncovered communications between the defendants and their victims, bank transfer receipts and messages sent between the defendants detailing how much of the ill-gotten payments each of the fraudsters was entitled to, according to prosecutors. The scheme netted the defendants a total of more than $100,000, they said.
The four defendants who have been caught are expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Cross-Goldenberg Saturday morning.
(John Annese contributed to this report.)
