Woman Stole $400,000 from Immigrants

MANHATTAN (CN) - A federal jury on Monday convicted a woman of "swindl(ing) immigrants out of thousands of dollars by claiming that she could get them green cards and other immigration benefits, when she knew she could not," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Clover A. Perez defrauded immigrants for more than 3 years at her Reliable Immigration Services office in Queens. She raked in more than $400,000, all of it illegally, prosecutors said in announcing the verdict.

Perez charged phony fees that were not required by immigration service, kept taking money from "clients" long after their applications had been rejected, and even stole one woman's identity to "underwrite her extravagant buying sprees," prosecutors said in a statement.

Perez, 45, of Elmont, N.Y., will be sentenced on Oct. 7. She faces a mandatory minimum term of 2 years and a maximum of 67 years.

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