FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
Brooklyn Man Indicted for Posing as U.S. Immigration Agent,
Stealing $7,000 from Two Women Seeking Services
Promised He Could Help Get Green Cards and Work Authorization for Relatives
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been charged with scheme to defraud, grand larceny and immigrant assistance services fraud for claiming to be an agent with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and stealing $7,000 from two women for immigration-related services he promised but never delivered.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant allegedly defrauded individuals who were desperate for help in obtaining legal status, an urgent concern these days among immigrants. We will not allow scammers to exploit the circumstances of vulnerable people in Brooklyn, regardless of their immigration status, and will seek to hold the defendant accountable for his alleged scheme.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Leroy Quammie, 48, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with first-degree scheme to defraud and third- and fourth-degree grand larceny. He was ordered held on $25,000 bond or $15,000 bail and to return to court on June 15, 2018. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted on the top count.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, in May 2016, a 49-year-old Brooklyn woman was referred to Quammie by a mutual acquaintance for immigration services. The defendant told the woman he was a USCIS agent and showed her a USCIS identification card with his name and photo. She then met with him on two separate occasions, giving him a total of $3,000, and met with an associate of his to whom she gave an additional $1,000, for the purpose of getting immigration papers.
Furthermore, it is alleged, the second victim, a 50-year-old woman, gave the defendant $3,000 after the defendant said he could procure Green Cards and working papers for her relatives. After all of the money transfers were completed the defendant became less available and ultimately stopped all communication with both women, according to the investigation.
The victims did not receive Green Cards or working papers for their relatives nor was their money returned. The investigation revealed that no Green Card application, citizenship application or related paperwork was filed with USCIS by the defendant on behalf of any of the victims or their family members, nor was the defendant ever employed by USCIS.
The defendant was arrested in Philadelphia last month and extradited to Brooklyn today.
The District Attorney thanked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, New York City Field Office, for its assistance in the investigation.
The case was investigated by Detective Investigator Roger Archer, of the District Attorney’s Investigations Bureau, under the supervision of Supervising Detective Investigator Robert Addonizio, and the overall supervision of Detective Investigator Edwin Murphy, Deputy Chief.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Fayola Charlet of the District Attorney’s Immigrant Affairs Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney José Interiano, Deputy Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.