Former Washington state woman sentenced for defrauding immigrants with promises of legal status in the US

SEATTLE - A former resident of Mercer Island who stole more than $220,000 from immigrants by falsely promising them immigration benefits was sentenced in U.S. District Court Friday to 16 months in prison, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones called her behavior “predatory,” saying she victimized those “least able to defend themselves…and her sole purpose was to take money from people who could least afford it.”    

“This defendant not only stole money from vulnerable immigrants, she created false hopes and destroyed dreams,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “This case is a reminder that there are imposters who prey on those who fear deportation.  As this case demonstrates, members of our immigrant communities can safely reach out to law enforcement to report these kinds of scams and frauds, and be assured that those responsible will be held to account.”

According to court records, between 2008 and 2011, Singh defrauded more than 40 immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America, charging some families as much as $36,000 with a claim that she had a contact at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) who ran a special program that could get them legal status. Since the fake program she described required groups rather than individuals to enroll, Singh encouraged victims to recruit additional people to enroll with them. In one instance, she defrauded 30 members of a church out of nearly $100,000 with her false promises.