Thread: Man charged with conning immigrants arrested near R.I. airpo

Man charged with conning immigrants arrested near R.I. airport


http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/lo ... ?track=rss

WARWICK, R.I. -- A former volunteer research assistant at Yale University accused of defrauding illegal Irish immigrants out of millions of dollars was arrested Thursday at a hotel near T.F. Green Airport.

Ralph Cucciniello, 55, of Branford, Conn., was charged on an arrest warrant issued in Connecticut with 59 counts of larceny and one count of racketeering, The Hartford Courant reported on its Web site Thursday night. He was being held on $3.5 million bond and was expected to appear in a Providence court Friday for an extradition hearing.

It was not clear whether Cucciniello was planning to flee, but authorities said they did not want to take any chances, the newspaper reported.

Cucciniello was initially arrested on May 1 on charges filed by the Manhattan district attorney's office in New York City and released on his own recognizance. The case was then referred to New Haven, Conn., State's Attorney Michael Dearington, because most of the alleged crimes happened at Yale.

Law enforcement officials have said that Cucciniello posed as a lawyer affiliated with Yale and swindled Irish immigrants with promises of helping them gain U.S. citizenship.

Authorities believe that Cucciniello collected millions of dollars from at least 200 illegal immigrants over the past two years and provided nothing in return.

New York officials filed charges involving three alleged victims. Authorities said many of the immigrants live in New York, and Cucciniello is accused of collecting some payments there.

George Goltzer, a lawyer representing Cucciniello in the New York case, declined to comment Thursday night when reached at home by The Associated Press. He said he would not be handling his client's case in Connecticut and did not know who would be.

Cucciniello, who has been convicted before for fraud, claimed to work at the Yale Immigration Law Clinic. He promised green cards in return for between $3,000 and $7,000, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office. The Yale Immigration Law Clinic does not exist.

University officials and law enforcement authorities have said that Cucciniello was not a lawyer, but a volunteer research assistant. Yale has suspended Cucciniello's access to all school facilities.

Cucciniello is set to appear in New York Criminal Court in Manhattan on Aug. 15.

Hi Nadys,

First, may I ask, why in the hell would anyone want to leave Ireland? I understand that Ireland is getting screwed by Bangalore, India, just like the UK and the US, but the question still begs an answer.

Originally Posted by stamfordadvocate.com

defrauding illegal Irish immigrants

If they're illegal, they're not immigrants. They're illegal aliens - border jumpers - illegal invaders - or just plain illegals.
W clarified this way back when this website first got started. If news reporters would take the time to read this website, they might be able to write more intelligently.

Does anyone think that The National Communist La Raza will come to the aid of these irish border jumpers? In the eyes of NCLR, and the AZT Land commies, they're "pilgrams!"

Does anyone think that H-1B visa card holders are immigrants? The H-1B visa is a NON-immigrant visa, therefore, the H-1Bs are NON-immigrants (and usually indentured, by the way)! Fact - nearly a million American technical workers have sacrificed their jobs to replacement H-1B workers from Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc

You got it... It doesn't matter if you are from Mexico, Ireland, Japan, CHina, etc... If you break the laws, you are illegal no matter what...

I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE 25,000 ILLEGAL IRISH IN NEW YORK CITY ALONE. THAT IS A PRETTY HIGH NUMBER FOR ONE CITY. AND WE DONT HEAR ABOUT ANY IRISH GETTING DEPORTED DO WE? THEY MUST BE WORKING SOMEWHERE TO COME UP WITH THAT KIND OF MONEY.