ICE, Border Patrol officials raid 2 locations in Palm Beach

Immigration, Border Patrol officials raid 2 locations in Palm Beach County

Alexandra Seltzer/Palm Beach Post
Rochelle Ritchie/WPTV

ByJulius Whigham II and Alexandra Seltzer
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 9:21 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2011
Posted: 5:37 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2011

Immigration attorney Levy Garcia-Crespo has been arrested for fraud, and agents are waiting to execute a search warrant at his office, according to a Homeland Security Investigations agent who did not want to be identified.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other law enforcement authorities earlier conducted raids at his office and at his home in the 1400 block of Keller Road in Lake Clarke Shores.

Garcia-Crespo, 34, works at Palm Way Professional Center in the 3600 block of Forest Hill Boulevard in suburban West Palm Beach.

He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court Friday morning, ICE spokeswoman Dani Bennett said in a statement.

According to neighbors of the home on Keller Road, ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents had been at the home since around 11:30 a.m. today taking out boxes and other items. They left around 7 p.m.

Neighbors, who did not want to be identified, said they found it odd that a number of expensive cars, including Lamborghinis, Range Rovers and Mercedes, were often parked in front of the home.

A woman in a Mercedes, who neighbors identified as Garcia-Crespo's wife, drove by the home several times today. She said she did not know why he was being arrested and then declined to comment.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime ... aking_news

UPDATE: West Palm Beach immigration attorney charged with fraud

May 26, 2011 5:54 PM
WPEC - CBS12.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Levy Garcia-Crespo, 34, was arrested Thursday after federal agents searched his home and the law office where he works. Little is being said about the case, except that he now faces charges of making false statements.

Special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations brought out box after box after from the law office of Garcia-Crespo. About 30 boxes of paperwork were seized.

Crespo was arrested about 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon at his office. Federal authorities would say little about the nature of the investigation. In a brief news release, the Department of Homeland Security says he is charged with fraud.

Garcia-Crespo's office on Forest Hill Boulevard is in the Palm Way Professional Centre and the sign above the door reads "IMMIGRATION." Earlier in the evening agents could be seen walking through the law office, apparently collecting evidence after getting a search warrant to go through Garcia-Crespo's files.

Parked out behind the office was Garcia-Crespo's Maserati, still sitting there as it was when they hauled him off to jail in the middle of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, a couple of miles away in Lake Clarke Shores, agents also executed a search warrant at Garcia-Crespo's home at 1415 Keller Road.

Neighbors couldn't believe their eyes as agents converged on the house. At one point in the evening, a woman said to be Garcia-Crespo's wife entered the house. She did not stop to comment.

During their search of the home, agents backed their SUV into Garcia-Crespo's garage, possibly so that it could be loaded with whatever they opted to seize from the house.

The front door appeared to be splintered and cracked, as if agents had to force it open. And part of the door lock was on the ground.

Homeland Security issued a very brief news release, saying Garcia-Crespo is under arrest for fraud and he's expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Friday morning.

We checked, and CGarcia-respo is not a member of the Florida Bar, which means he cannot practice law in Florida. Records show he once had a business called Welcome to America Incorporated, a firm that helps immigrants get their immigration papers, and it appears that firm was dissolved in September 2007.

http://www.cbs12.com/articles/palm-4732 ... ation.html

I.C.E. News Release

May 27, 2011
West Palm Beach, FL

South Florida man charged with falsely representing himself as an immigration attorney

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A local man was charged in federal court on Friday with making false statements in connection with purported immigration services.

The ongoing investigation is being conducted by local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents.

According to the criminal complaint and statements made during the May 27 court hearing, during the course of this scheme, Levy Garcia Crespo, 34, of West Palm Beach, submitted fraudulent paperwork to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicating that he was an attorney representing clients in immigration matters.

In support of his paperwork, Crespo submitted a fraudulent Florida Bar Association identification card and a fraudulent Florida driver's license.

Crespo also appeared in immigration court and represented himself as an attorney.

While posing as an attorney, he processed more than 3,000 false and fraudulent immigration applications on behalf of illegal aliens.

If convicted, Crespo faces a maximum of five years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rinku Tribuiani for the Southern District of Florida is prosecuting this case.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1105/1 ... mbeach.htm