News release originally published by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York
Queens Immigration Attorney Found Guilty Of Operating Asylum Fraud Scheme
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Andreea Dumitru Knowingly Made False Statements and Representations On More Than 100 Asylum Applications
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Andreea Dumitru, also known as “Andreea Dumitru Parcalaboiu,” an immigration attorney based in Queens, New York, was found guilty in Manhattan federal court of asylum fraud, making false statements to immigration authorities, and aggravated identity theft on Nov. 19, 2018, following a two-week trial before United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said, “Andreea Dumitru, an immigration attorney, scammed the asylum program, which was designed to provide safe harbor for the world’s most vulnerable people. She will now serve time in prison for her crimes.”
According to the Superseding Indictment, other filings in Manhattan federal court, and the evidence presented at trial:
Between March 27, 2013, and 2017, Dumitru operated a scheme to submit fraudulent I-589 forms in connection with applications for asylum. Specifically, Dumitru submitted over 100 applications in which she knowingly made false statements and representations about, among other things, the applicants’ personal narratives of alleged persecution, criminal histories and travel histories. Dumitru deliberately fabricated detailed personal stories of purported mistreatment of her clients, forged her clients’ signatures and falsely notarized affidavits.
Dumitru, 43, of Queens, New York, was convicted of one count of asylum fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of 2 years in prison. The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, and any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of Homeland Security Investigations and United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Fraud Detection and National Security Unit at the New York Asylum Office, and thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review for their assistance.
This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo, Alison G. Moe, and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecution.