A Bronx immigration lawyer and his son are accused of deceiving hundreds of clients by promising them green cards while fraudulently representing them as victims of domestic violence, according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday (22) by the New York Attorney General’s office.
The lawyer, Kofi Amankwaa, 69, “allegedly exploited the Violence Against Women Act – a law that allows non-citizen victims of domestic violence to access permanent resident status – for his own financial gain, falsely claiming that his clients were victims of domestic violence,” said Attorney Damian Williams in a statement.
The alleged crime, according to federal prosecutors, lasted from 2016 to 2023 and resulted in thousands of dollars in legal fees paid by immigrant families and, in several cases, ended in the deportation of unsuspecting immigrants.
The lawyer submitted forms claiming that parents were being abused by their children and were therefore eligible for U visas, intended for crime victims.
Amankwaa and his son, Kofi Amankwaa Jr., were each charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and commit immigration fraud, and they could face 10 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, Amankwaa and his accomplices, some of whom falsely posed as lawyers, typically charged $6,000 for their services.
“The defendants carried out this illegal scheme knowing that their clients had not, in fact, been abused by their children or without ever asking if such abuse occurred. Furthermore, the defendants often failed to obtain legal permanent resident status because their cases were denied based on fraud, among other reasons.”
According to a 2019 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the number of VAWA immigration petitions (U-visas) filed increased by 70% over five years, while the number of petitions with potential for being fraudulent increased by 305%.
Source: Gothamist