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Suffolk County resident Tania Gonzalez, age 44, of Ronkonkoma, was arrested after she allegedly misrepresented herself as an immigration attorney to undocumented immigrants seeking assistance with immigration matters and stole more than $30,000 from the victims.
The arrest came following a joint investigation by the Nassau County District Attorney, US Department of Homeland Security, Fraud Detection, and National Security.
Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith said between Jan. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2020, Gonzalez allegedly misrepresented herself as an immigration attorney to multiple undocumented immigrants seeking legal assistance.
It is alleged that Gonzalez told victims that if they had been in the country for 10 years, they qualified for a 10-year visa, even if they had entered the country illegally.
Smith said that no such visa exists under Immigration Law.
Gonzalez allegedly requested large down payments from her victims, and in several cases, filed a fraudulent "Application for Asylum" with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) without her victims’ knowledge.
According to the DA, as a result of the asylum applications, USCIS provided employment authorization documents to Gonzalez’s clients pending action by the agency on the original applications.
Gonzalez allegedly used the issuance of those employment authorization documents to demonstrate to victims that she was working on their cases to obtain the promised visas.
Smith said that "in reality, USCIS issues employments authorization documents so that individuals may support themselves and their families pending USCIS action."
Once the applications were processed, USCIS was alerted to the fact that the applications had been filed without the victims’ knowledge and began taking action.
In total, Gonzalez stole more than $30,000 from her victims.
Smith noted that in the past, Gonzalez has gone by the names Tania Ayala and Tania Gonzalez Renderos.
“The defendant allegedly deceived hardworking immigrants by promising to help them on their path to obtaining U.S. residency,” Smith said. “Tania Gonzalez has several aliases and we suspect that more people may have allegedly been defrauded by this defendant.
“We encourage anyone who may have been victimized to contact the NCDA Office of Immigrant Affairs at (516) 571-7756.”
Gonzalez was charged with 10 counts of third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny, and scheme to defraud, all felonies. If convicted, she faces a minimum sentence of two to four years and a maximum term of three and a half to seven years in prison.
Following her arrest, Gonzalez was released and scheduled to return to court on Wednesday, Aug. 25.
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