Bronx Lawyer Scammed Thousands of Migrants with Clever Illegal Green Card Scheme

A Bronx lawyer has admitted to running a massive immigration scam. Kofi Amankwaa used a law that allows domestic violence victims to get green cards in his scheme. Amankwaa defrauded hundreds of immigrants, some of whom were deported, writes New York Post.

Kofi Amankwaa, 70, and his son Kofi Amankwaa, 37, filed false I-360 petitions.

These petitions are based on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which, among other things, allows illegal immigrants to obtain a green card if their U.S. citizen child abuses them domestically.

Amankwaa will likely have to pay $16 million in restitution and faces 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges.

Fraud scheme

70 year old Kofi Amankwaa charged asylum seekers up to $6000 to illegally expedite their applications for legal status. He encouraged migrants to claim they had become the victims domestic violence to deceive the immigration system.

On the subject: Fraudster swindled $93 from six Russian-speaking New Yorkers by posing as a lawyer

“For years, Kofi Amankwaa oversaw a massive immigration fraud scheme. He filed thousands of immigration documents falsely claiming that his clients were victims of abuse at the hands of their children or other family members,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.

Families who sought help from Amankwaa said he had filed VAWA petitions for them.

He did not disclose to his clients the substance of these applications or the dire consequences of a denial of the petition (in which case the parent could be deported). An investigation by the state attorney general concluded that Amankwaa lied to clients that once they filed their paperwork, they would be safe to leave and re-enter the United States.

Amankwaa claimed his father would be able to travel to Mexico and then re-enter the United States, Ricardo Velasquez Jr. said. But when his father, Ricardo Velasquez Sr., arrived at JFK Airport in March 2023 after a visit to Mexico, immigration officials detained him and then deported him.

Olga Perez, whose parents were Amankwaa’s clients, learned years later that her parents’ immigration papers had named her as an abuser. The parents, who had lived in the U.S. illegally for more than two decades and were seeking legal status, said the lawyer had promised them work permits and the ability to travel. They said the family had no idea that the lawsuit would involve the lawyer filing false claims on their behalf, claiming that they would accuse their daughter of abusing them.

Amankwaa ran the scam from his Bronx office from September 2016 to November. Prosecutors said most of the clients' applications were ultimately rejected.

Amankwaa's staff are also under investigation.

Amankwaa's lawyer, Todd Spodek, said Sept. 18 that his client "has taken full responsibility for his actions and is doing everything he can to right his wrongs."