Colombian Nationals Charged With Running Fake Immigration Law Firm, Impersonating Federal Judges

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have charged four Colombian nationals — three of them siblings — with running a bogus immigration law firm that posed as federal judges, immigration lawyers and law‑enforcement officers to defraud migrants out of more than $100,000. Daniela Alejandra Sanchez Ramirez, 25, Jhoan Sebastian Sanchez Ramirez, 29, and Alexandra Patricia Sanchez Ramirez, 38, were arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport with one‑way tickets to Colombia, while a fourth defendant, Marlyn Yulitza Salazar Pineda, 24, was picked up at a New Jersey restaurant; a fifth person named in a partially unsealed indictment remains at large. Prosecutors say the group solicited clients on Facebook, charged hundreds to thousands of dollars for 'legal services,' and staged sham immigration court hearings over videoconference where conspirators impersonated judges and officials, even sending fake government documents afterward. Some victims believed their cases were resolved and missed real immigration hearings; at least one was ordered deported before the order was later reversed once the fraud came to light. The defendants, described as immigration parolees or on a tourist visa, are charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money‑laundering conspiracy and two counts of impersonating a federal officer, in a case that underscores both the vulnerability of migrants to legal scams and the ease with which digital platforms can be weaponized to mimic U.S. courts.