Former Washington State Woman Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding Immigrants of More Than $200,000 with Promises of Legal Status

SEATTLE - A former resident of Mercer Island, who stole more than $220,000 from immigrants with promises of immigration assistance, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 16 months in prison and $222,900 in restitution for four counts of wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  DALIA IVETTE SINGH, aka Dalia Pena, 62, now a resident of Clearwater, Florida, pleaded guilty in October 2015.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones called her behavior “predatory” saying she preyed on those “least able to defend themselves... Her sole purpose was to take money from people who could least afford it.” 

“This defendant not only stole money from vulnerable immigrants, she created false hopes and destroyed dreams,” said United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “This case is a reminder that there are imposters who prey on those who fear deportation.  As this case demonstrates, members of our immigrant communities can safely reach out to law enforcement to report these kinds of scams and frauds, and be assured that those responsible will be held to account.”

According to court records, between 2008 and 2011, SINGH defrauded more than 40 immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America.  SINGH charged some families as much as $36,000, claiming she had a contact with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) who could provide the immigrants with legal status in the United States.  SINGH claimed her USCIS contact ran a special program the immigrants could use to get legal status.  There was no such program and no USCIS contact – SINGH fabricated the story to defraud the victims.  The fake program SINGH described required enrollment of a group of people, not just individuals, and so she encouraged victims to recruit more people to enroll with them.  In one instance, Singh defrauded about 30 members of a church out of nearly $100,000 with her false promises.

“Those who choose to capitalize on the fear of deportation to victimize immigrants and undermine our nation’s legal immigration system will be held accountable for their actions,” said Shawn Fallah, resident agent in charge of ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility in Seattle.  “We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement counterparts to investigate criminals and imposters who manipulate and exploit the system for their own personal gain and see that they are brought to justice.”

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).