Feds: Woman stole nearly $500,000 in citizenship fraud scheme

DrG/MBG

SUGHED:

By Jeremy Roebuck and Martha L. Hernandez

jroebuck@themonitor.com,mlhernandez@themonitor.com

McALLEN — Jennifer Martinez has a reputation that extends across South Texas.

From Houston to Laredo, immigrants have turned to the woman whose business cards identify her as a federal agent for quick, easy solutions to any number of citizenship problems.

Her clients are usually referred by word of mouth — from a friend or family member who has a cousin, a brother, a co-worker who knows someone else who swears by her services. They pay thousands of dollars in hopes of circumventing government processes that can take years to complete.

But now, nearly all of them say they were conned.

According to a criminal complaint filed against her this month in a Houston federal court, Martinez has impersonated a federal agent for the past two years. She stands accused of scamming more than 70 immigrant families out of money totaling nearly $500,000.

And while immigrant advocacy groups in the Rio Grande Valley hear dozens of complaints each year about similar citizenship cons, Martinez’s case stands out for its sheer magnitude and the fact that she has continued to operate for so long despite leaving trails of angry victims in her wake.

Police departments in McAllen, Edinburg, Alamo, Donna and a number of other South Texas jurisdictions have opened their own investigations into her business.

“These people were desperate to bring family members over the right way and to chase the American dream,” said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño, whose office currently has five open investigations into Martinez. “It’s quite tragic that this lady took advantage of that to the tune of half a million dollars.”

‘NO SHORT CUTS’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Martinez, 35, of Alamo, on Nov. 4, two years after investigators say she began running her immigration scheme.

And while she asked for varying amounts from her alleged victims, the setup always played out along similar lines, according to court documents.

Immigrant families contacted her after receiving her phone number through a referral, and no problem seemed too difficult for her to handle.

Wearing a badge or identification card that marked her as working in the “Immigration Department,” she reportedly set up meetings at hotels and at the victims’ houses and offered to do anything from expediting passport and citizenship applications to helping her clients sign up for Medicare.

Her clients — typically in the country legally — sent anywhere from $6,000 to $30,000 in cash or wire transfers to a bank account she had set up in advance.

“She fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims with no ability or intent to assist them in the immigration process,” said ICE Special Agent Edward John Bredehoft in an affidavit filed in the case.

Juan Alvarez’s sister first heard of Martinez in an Alamo beauty shop where other women boasted of her ability to cut through the red tape. A permanent resident already working through the citizenship process, she thought the woman could help her move her application through the system.

Martinez asked for $8,000 to handle the sister’s case and those of other family members but insisted that all transactions be done through money order because the funds were headed to various federal agencies, Alvarez said.

“I know there are no shortcuts in life,” he said in Spanish on Thursday. “But I didn’t want my sister to think I wasn’t willing to help her.”

Other victims reported paying Martinez money they had saved to pay an immigration attorney.

“When I gave her the money, I told her, ‘This better be something legitimate. This money is a product of 12 years of saving,’” said one woman who was so embarrassed about falling for the scheme she spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “Now, they’re telling me she’s purely a fraud.”

‘THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T MAKE HOUSE CALLS’

Little is known about Martinez’s past or how she developed her reputation among the tight-knit immigrant communities that dot the South Texas border.

But before launching what investigators call her most lucrative scheme, she had been arrested in several attempts to help smuggle immigrants through border checkpoints and had four convictions on theft charges, according to court records.

Cindy Dyar, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in Edinburg, first began hearing Martinez’s name in 2008 when a woman showed up at her office claiming to have been conned while seeking a work visa.

“We hear about this kind of thing all the time,” Dyar said. “But it’s usually someone pretending to be a lawyer — not a federal agent.”

Dyar referred her client to Alamo police, who had already fielded more than 40 other complaints against Martinez. Officers executed a search warrant on her home and found dozens of receipt books and fictitious credentials.

On Nov. 13, a federal magistrate judge ordered Martinez held without bond until her trial on charges of wire fraud and impersonating a government employee. If convicted, she could face up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million.

Despite her arrest, the grievances against her continue to pile up, and authorities fear there may be dozens more victims who are afraid to come forward or are currently being defrauded by similar scams.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said.

Anyone with questions regarding the immigration process should visit the nearest U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services Office and ask for the badge number of the person they are dealing with, she said. A government agent will never ask for a check or money order to be made out in their name.

Sheriff Treviño urges anyone else who feels they have been scammed to contact their local police department and limit their interactions with agents to official government buildings.

“Business should always be conducted in an office,” he said. “The government doesn’t make house calls.”

______

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437. Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.