Document and Benefit Fraud

The roster included Sinisa Djurdjic’s name; Djurdjic immigrated to the United States in 2000. HSI discovered that, on various U.S. immigration applications, Djurdjic had denied serving in foreign military and police units.

U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle sentenced Cruz Miguel Aguina, 40, to eight months in prison following a guilty plea to immigration fraud. Aguina was also judicially denaturalized as a U.S. citizen.

According to court documents, Ana Maria Hernandez, 53, portrayed herself to be a USCIS employee and defrauded numerous noncitizen victims and their family members by falsely representing that she would process their immigration applications for a substantial fee.

Loredana Angel, 34, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court April 13 to felony charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and illegal reentry of an alien. Daniel Rostas, 30, pleaded guilty Wednesday, and Legenda Rostas, 28, pleaded guilty March 1 to the same charges. Angel and Legenda Rostas told authorities that they are sisters and that the Rostas are married.

HSI Kansas City acting Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho and U.S. Attorney Steven A. Russell announced that Cristian Yanira Ruiz-Cardona, 28, was sentenced on April 6, 2023 in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for use of immigration documents not lawfully issued, false representation of a Social Security number with intent to deceive, and making a false claim to U.S. citizenship.

A federal grand jury indicted Davey Hines, 30, of Naperville, on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of theft or receipt of stolen mail, four counts of unauthorized access device fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft in February 2021 for events that occurred between June 2018 and December 2019.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell ordered Herbert Leonel Diaz, 53, a naturalized citizen of the United States who was born in El Salvador and previously resided in Henderson, to serve eight months in prison for naturalization fraud Feb. 1.

On March 16, a federal jury in Charlotte convicted Gregory Maxwell Palmer, 48, a naturalized citizen of Jamaica, of naturalization fraud. U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney presided over the two-day trial.

On March 23, Chief United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II sentenced Manuel Alejandro Vitela-Romero, 36, a citizen of Mexico residing in Johnston County, to time served plus one year of supervised release.

Ana Hernandez, 53, faces criminal charges related to her alleged wire fraud and impersonation of a federal employee. She portrayed herself to be a USCIS employee and defrauded more than 20 victims by providing false pretense that she would process immigration applications for a substantial fee.