Immigration Consultant Accused of Defrauding Clients Charged with 51 Counts

Immigration Consultant Accused of
Defrauding Clients Charged with 51 Counts

April 29, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Joe Scott, Director of Communications
Sandi Gibbons, Public Information Officer
Jane Robison, News Secretary
(213) 974-3525

LOS ANGELES – A 38-year-old Montebello woman accused of bilking clients of hundreds of thousands of dollars through a large-scale immigration fraud scheme is due to be arraigned Wednesday on 51 felony counts.

Deputy District Attorney Dana Aratani of Consumer Protection Division said Romina Zadorian faces 46 counts of grand theft of personal property, four counts of forgery and one count of identity theft. She is due to be arraigned April 30 at 8:30 a.m. at Los Angeles Superior Court, Division 30.

"Her victims were varied," Aratani said. "She ran an immigration consulting business, so she would take significant sums of money from respective clients. In some cases, she pretended to be an attorney, but in all cases she indicated that she could help them with their immigration status."

The defendant allegedly told clients she could help them obtain U.S. residency, citizenship and work permits. Consumer complaints ultimately tipped off law enforcement authorities to the defendant’s criminal enterprise. Since 2003, prosecutors allege Zadorian has defrauded 46 victims with losses ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 each.

Zadorian was taken into custody Monday morning by investigators of the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, after prosecutors filed a felony complaint for arrest warrant (case No. BA339360) on April 24.

Bail for the defendant was recommended at $1,115,000. If convicted of all counts, Zadorian faces 37 years and four months in state prison.

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