News Releases and Statements
News Releases and Statements
Patria Zuniga, 53, of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud. Zuniga’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 24, 2016.
Dalia Ivette Singh, aka Dalia Pena, 62, now residing in Clearwater, Florida, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud in October. At the sentencing hearing, Singh was order to pay $222,000 in restitution to her victims.
Nimon Naphaeng, 34, a native and citizen of Thailand, who currently resides in Wakefield, Rhode Island, was charged with a 26-count indictment, for charges including visa fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and international money laundering.
Ken Ngombwa, 56, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of the following crimes: one count of unlawfully procuring or attempting to procure naturalization or citizenship; one count of procuring citizenship to which he was not entitled; one count of conspiracy to unlawfully procure citizenship; and one count of making a materially false statement to agents of the Department of Homeland Security.
Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, 24, was charged in a sealed indictment returned Jan. 6. These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Houston Police Department.
Leonard Herrington, 42, was found guilty by a federal jury Sept. 4, 2015, for his role as a mid-level participant in a larger fraud conspiracy. He recruited and managed other co-conspirators in the extensive identity theft and fraud ring that spanned two states and defrauded seven financial institutions.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – A former San Jose immigration consultant was sentenced to 18 months in jail Monday and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine for encouraging illegal immigration for private financial gain, mail fraud, and willfully contributing to a fraudulent tax return.
Princehakeem Awolesi, 48, of Lynn, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship, a U.S. passport and using a false Social Security number. Awolesi was arrested in August 2015 and charged with violating various federal immigration and social security laws. His sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2016.
The indictment was returned under seal Nov. 18 and unsealed Dec. 9. Folarin H. Alabi, 33, Justice Daniel, 40, and Ifeoma Adamolekun, 39, all of Houston, were taken into custody Dec. 9.
Rommer Valdez, 39, of Boston, was sentenced to five months in prison and three years of supervised release, the first five months of which is to be served in home confinement. He must also forfeit $26,200 and pay a fine of $3,000. Valdez had previously pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiring to produce a false identification document.
According to an indictment returned last month in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Dr. Marek Walczyk and Katarzyna Fergemann fraudulently declared U.S. citizenship applicants as suffering from a physical or mental impairment that purportedly rendered them unable to demonstrate the required knowledge of U.S. history and the English language.
Saud Saleh, 30, owned and operated Twinz Meat Market, a retail grocery store, now defunct, that was located at 3083 Kensington Ave. in Philadelphia. At his guilty plea hearing, the defendant admitted that he knowingly trafficked in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the food stamp program.
According to court records, the defendants conspired to obtain reimbursement payments from the Virginia Medicaid Assistance Program by submitting false claims for mental health support services in 2011 and 2012.
Sherin Thawer, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft.
Mark Alin Hammerschmidt, 48, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Ornella Angelina Hammerschmidt, 36, also of Prior Lake, pleaded guilty to one count of tax fraud.
Atul Nanda, 46, and his brother, Jiten "Jay" Nanda, 44, were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, and four counts of wire fraud.
Kouame Innocent Tanoh must also pay $671,760 in restitution and $651,769 in a forfeiture money judgment.
Noe Arturo Castillo, 43, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $21,082 to the federal government. In July 2015, Castillo pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, passport fraud, theft of public money, and misuse of a Social Security number.
The case, which is the result of a three-year undercover probe conducted by HSI with substantial assistant from the DMV’s Investigations division, revealed that many of the ring’s customers were previously deported felons. Federal prosecutors have filed charges against three people believed to be customers of the identity theft ring, and authorities are seeking to take those individuals into custody.
Farhan Ali Abu Siam, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic SNAP benefits and commit wire fraud; wire fraud; and aiding and abetting trafficking in SNAP benefits.
Dalia Ivette Singh, aka Dalia Pena, 61, who most recently resided in Clearwater, Florida, defrauded more than 40 immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America. Singh charged some families as much as $36,000, claiming she had a contact with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) who could provide the immigrants with legal status in the United States.
Stephanie Pyle was sentenced to 30 months in prison for her conviction on the fraud charge, and 24 months in prison for her conviction on an aggravated identity theft charge. Since identity theft sentences must be served consecutively to sentences on other convictions, Pyle’s total sentence is 54 months in federal prison.
Adam Mack, 39, of Portland, Maine, was sentenced to 13 months in prison on multiple counts of aiding and abetting visa and marriage fraud and making false statements. Mack previously pleaded guilty on March 30, 2015.
Jerry Wang, 34, appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila. Wang was ordered to surrender and begin serving his sentence by Nov. 3. In addition to the prison term, Judge Davila ordered the defendant to forfeit $700,000 in proceeds derived from the scheme.
The federal judge also ordered Brandon Jones, 34, from Reading, Pennsylvania, five years of supervised release and a $300 special assessment. The fraud gang’s ringleader, Damian Gasdaska, was sentenced in May 2015 to 12 years in prison.
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