Indictment Unsealed Charging Three with Operating a Fictitious Immigration Law Firm That Targeted and Defrauded Undocumented Aliens, Family Members, and Other Victims

NEW ORLEANS –  United States Attorney Peter G. Strasser announced the unsealing of an Indictment dated February 7, 2019, charging ESTEBAN RAMIREZ, III (“RAMIREZ”), age 26, HEATHER TOLSON (“TOLSON”), age 26, JOSE FERNANDEZ MOREL, a/k/a Benny Veintitres, a/k/a Robert McCane, a/k/a Domi (“FERNANDEZ”), age 28, with one (1) count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 and three (3) counts of Wire Fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. RAMIREZ and TOLSON are residents of Lorain, OH and FERNANDEZ, formerly a resident of Lorain, OH, now lives in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic after he was ordered removed from the United States by immigration officials in 2016.

Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud carries a maximum sentence of five (5) years and Wire Fraud carries a maximum sentence of twenty (20) years.  Upon release from prison, all defendants also face a term of supervised release up to (3) three years, and/or a fine of $250,000 or the greater of twice the gross gain to each defendant or twice the gross loss to any person under Title 18, United States Code, Section 3571.   

According to the Indictment, in the beginning of February 2017, FERNANDEZ devised a scheme to defraud by fraudulently representing himself as an immigration attorney.  Specifically, FERNANDEZ and other coconspirators acting at his direction, created the fictitious law firm of “Micheal (sic) Browns Immigration Attorneys” with an address of 4207 Parliament Drive, Alexandria, LA 71303.  FERNANDEZ enlisted the assistance of RAMIREZ and TOLSON to receive funds from various individuals who were victims of FERNANDEZ’s scheme.  RAMIREZ and TOLSON agreed to wire via Western Union the fraudulently obtained funds they received to FERNANDEZ in the Dominican Republic. Part of their agreement was that FERNANDEZ would split these funds with RAMIREZ and TOLSON.

During the scheme, FERNANDEZ fraudulently represented himself as an attorney named “Robert McCane” and FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON represented themselves as employees with the “Micheal Browns Immigration Attorneys” law firm.  According to the Indictment, FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON represented to Individual A’s family members that “McCane” was an attorney associated with the “Micheal Browns Immigration Attorneys” law firm located in Alexandria, LA which also had offices in New York and Ohio. The Indictment alleges that FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON utilized various email accounts to communicate with Individual A’s family members in an effort to promote the scheme. For example, FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON created a “Legal Services Agreement” that was emailed to Individual A’s family members which referenced a $4,980.00 fee and a $980.00 initial deposit for “attorney’s fees and cost incurred by clients.”  FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON obtained money from Individual A’s family members under the guise of collecting a retainer to provide legal services for Individual A and under the pretense of posting a bond to secure the release of Individual A from immigration custody. 

The Indictment details how TOLSON opened a bank account at a Chase Bank branch in Lorain, OH in order to receive fraudulently obtained payments from Individual A’s family members and how FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON utilized various Chase Bank locations in Lorain, OH and Western Union agent branches to conduct cash transactions to withdraw payments from Individual A’s family members.  Further, the Indictment describes how RAMIREZ and TOLSON utilized Western Union locations to wire fraudulently obtained payments to FERNANDEZ in the Dominican Republic.  The Indictment also alleges that FERNANDEZ, RAMIREZ, and TOLSON falsely represented themselves as employees of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 

On February 11, 2019, Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) arrested TOLSON and RAMIREZ in Ohio.  On February 11, 2019, TOLSON and RAMIREZ appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Ohio who released TOLSON on a $10,000 bond and with the condition that she appear in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on February 25, 2019. RAMIREZ was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for February 13, 2019, in federal court in Toledo, Ohio.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and HSI are working with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Department of State to extradite FERNANDEZ from the Dominican Republic. 

U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. Klebba, Supervisor of the Financial Crimes Unit.