Fraudsters still go after and find loopholes in a well-intentioned program to benefit the vulnerable, and monetize on it. The Violence Against Women Act is a comprehensive legislative package designed to improve criminal justice responses to violent crimes against all women and children residing in the United States. This also includes undocumented immigrants, which is where the loophole comes in.
Beginning in September of 2016, Kofi Amankwaa met with clients, who were undocumented immigrants, and instructed them to sign fraudulent Form I-360 VAWA Petitions falsely stating that they had been abused by their own U.S. citizen children. He then used the filings as a basis to request advance parole travel documents for his clients which allowed them, without legal U.S. status, to temporarily travel abroad and then return to the U.S. After obtaining the advance parole travel documents, Amankwaa directed his clients to travel abroad and then return to America. Upon returning to the U.S. on a “clean slate,” he would falsely use the advance parole travel documents to help his clients apply for legal permanent residential status.
Amankwaa was more often not successful in helping his clients obtain lawful permanent resident status. Usually, the petitions were rejected because the applications were based on fraud. Still, Amakwaa charged between $3,000 and $6,000 for his services as well as administrative fees, regardless of the results with the immigration petitions.
In November 2023, following numerous complaints by clients regarding the fraudulent abuse allegations, Amankwaa’s license to practice law in the State of New York was suspended. And in August 2024, Amankwaa was disbarred. On September 18, 2024, Amankwaa pleaded guilty to immigration fraud. As part of the plea, Amankwaa agreed to pay $30 million in restitution to his victims.
Excellent investigative work by the Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “South River man, a disbarred NY attorney, owes $30M for immigration fraud scheme: feds” published by Central New Jersey News on September 18, 2024.
A South River man who formerly worked as a Bronx-based immigration attorney has pleaded guilty to filing fraudulent immigration documents, and will pay millions in restitution, according to Homeland Security Investigations.
Kofi Amankwaa, 70, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to immigration fraud for his supervision of a multi-year scheme to file fraudulent immigration documents under the Violence Against Women Act.
