Prosecutors filed 21 additional felony counts Tuesday against a Los Angeles woman accused of operating a fraudulent immigration services business from her home and duping her customers out of $270,000.
Dalila Moreno, 63, was initially charged with 17 counts involving 13 customers, but 19 additional alleged victims were subsequently identified through the District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Division’s telephone hotline, according to Deputy District Attorney Ryann Gerber Jordan.
Moreno is scheduled to be arraigned June 19 on the latest criminal complaint, in which she is charged with grand theft of personal property, attempted grand theft of personal property, forgery, extortion and use of a counterfeit seal.
The crimes alleged occurred between September 2010 and May 2015, according to the criminal complaint.
Moreno is accused of falsely promising to expedite the processing of visas, resident alien cards and citizenship petitions for her clients and their families, and telling her clients that she worked for the government, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
She pretended to provide services by creating false visas and passport stamps and collected $270,000 from clients without providing the promised services, the District Attorney’s Office alleges.
Moreno, who was arrested Jan. 10 by investigators from the District Attorney’s Office and has remained behind bars since then, could face up to 28 years in state prison if convicted as charged.
The case stemmed from an investigation by the Human Trafficking Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Division.
Investigators urged anyone who might have been victimized to call the Consumer Protection Division’s hotline at (213) 257-2465.