http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/ho ... 588795.php

Friday, February 23, 2007
3 charged in immigration fraud
Prosecutors said three people are accused of taking money from immigrants who ultimately were deported.
BY CINDY CARCAMO
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA – Three people are scheduled to be arraigned today after they were charged on suspicion of separate immigration fraud schemes, the Orange County District Attorney's Office reported.

Laura Margaret Friend, 56, of Laguna Niguel, Julio Orlando Cortez, 58, of Santa Ana and Milad Ibraham Hanna, 64, of Villa Park are accused of submitting applications for political asylum on behalf of illegal immigrants without their knowledge or consent, even though none of them were eligible for such status, prosecutors said.

The immigrants were then channeled into U.S. Federal Court where they were ultimately ordered to be deported. The three are accused of collecting thousands of dollars over several years from unsuspecting immigrants, prosecutors said.

Friend works for the California Financial and Legal Center, Cortez works for J&J Immigration Service and Hanna works for Orange County's Center of Legal Services.

Anyone with additional information or who believes they may have been a victim can call the Supervising District Attorney Investigator Ron Seman at 714-648-3620, or call the Immigration Fraud Victim Hotline at 714-648-3626.