https:// www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/queens-immigration-attorney-charged-asylum-fraud

Queens Immigration Attorney Charged With Asylum Fraud

Andreea Dumitru Knowingly Made False Statements and Representations on More Than 180 Asylum Applications

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Angel M. Melendez, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Patricia Menges, Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services New York Asylum Office, announced that yesterday ANDREEA DUMITRU, a/k/a “Andreea Dumitru Parcalaboiu,” an immigration attorney based in Queens, New York, was charged with asylum fraud and making false statements. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Andreea Dumitru, an immigration attorney, is alleged to have submitted fraudulent forms for over 180 clients, each containing statements and representations she knew to be false. She now faces prison time for her alleged crimes.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment[[1]]:

Between 2012 and 2017, DUMITRU participated in a scheme to submit fraudulent I-589 Forms in connection with applications for asylum. Specifically, DUMITRU submitted over 180 applications in which she knowingly made false statements and representations about, among other things, the applicants’ criminal histories, personal narratives of alleged persecution, and/or locations. Nevertheless, DUMITRU certified each application as true and correct under penalty of perjury.