Cuomo Says 3 Companies Defrauded Haitians

In his latest salvo against immigration fraud, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Tuesday that he had filed lawsuits accusing several companies of preying on the Haitian population in New York by fraudulently offering immigration services following the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince.

The lawsuits accuse three companies, all based in Brooklyn, of unlawfully providing legal advice and services to Haitian immigrants even though their owners and employees were not lawyers and were therefore forbidden from representing anyone before immigration authorities, Mr. Cuomo said in a news release (see also Creole version).

In addition, the lawsuits accuse the companies of charging  thousands of dollars to process immigration forms that could have been filed free or for a nominal sum.

“In light of the recent devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, New York’s Haitian residents have sadly been a target for immigration scams, bringing further pain to a community that has already suffered so much,” Mr. Cuomo said, according to the written statement.

One of the companies sued is Rincher’s Multi-Service (see complaint), which is owned by Deslande Rincher, a fixture in the Haitian community in Brooklyn.

A message left at the office of Mr. Rincher was not returned, though the receptionist, who did not identify herself, said, “You’ll write that he has been helping the community and hasn’t done anything wrong, won’t you?”

The other two companies named in the lawsuits, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, are Chay Pa Lou Community Center Inc. (see complaint) and Delegue Tax Consultant Inc., both operated by Jean Michel from an address in Flatbush. A woman who answered the phone said Mr. Michel was not available for comment and added that Chay Pa Lou no longer existed.

Mr. Cuomo is seeking to shut down the companies and to get restitution for the victims. His office has already obtained a court order against Chay Pa Lou Community Center to  freeze its assets and stop it from destroying documents.

Mr. Michel and his companies are accused of illegally processing 114 immigration applications, while Mr. Rincher and his companies are accused of illegally processing 22, a spokesman in the attorney general’s office said.

Mr. Cuomo said his investigation into these companies began after the Obama administration began offering special immigration status to Haitians living illegally in the United States. The new designation, called temporary protected status and announced on Jan. 15, three days after the earthquake, protects such immigrants from deportation for 18 months and allows them to work. The status is offered from time to time to immigrants who are unable to return safely to their home countries because of armed conflict or natural disasters.

The attorney general’s office received complaints that Haitian immigrants were being offered legal help “at exorbitant prices” by companies not qualified or authorized to do so, Mr. Cuomo said in the statement.

The investigation revealed that these companies were charging immigrants, some of whom were not even eligible to stay in the country, a processing fee for submitting the temporary protected status applications even though the individuals could have applied themselves for a nominal fee or free through a special waiver. In addition, Mr. Cuomo said, some immigrants never received the services they paid for.

In an interview on Tuesday, one victim, who requested anonymity but is cooperating with Mr. Cuomo’s office, said she had sought help from Chay Pa Lou to file for temporary protected status. She was charged $1,300, she said, though she never received anything in return.

When she demanded her money back, she was rebuffed, she said, so a friend of hers filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office.

Immigration fraud, often orchestrated by immigrants, has proliferated across the country and in New York, victimizing people desperate to gain legal residency or citizenship. Law enforcement officials say such schemes are particularly difficult to uncover and prosecute because many victims are in the country illegally and are hesitant to seek help from the authorities for fear of deportation.

Under state and federal law, only lawyers or representatives accredited by the Justice Department can represent people before the immigration authorities, Mr. Cuomo’s office said. Anyone providing immigration services must also comply with strict rules governing contracts and advertising.

In addition, it is illegal for nonprofit immigrant service providers to charge excessive fees for services, Mr. Cuomo said; the services must be provided free or at a nominal rate. Chay Pa Lou Community Center was a nonprofit agency, the attorney general’s office said.

“We welcome our growing Haitian community to New York, many of whom have been displaced by a horrible and unspeakable tragedy,” said Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, an advocacy group. “For any individual or group to try to scam these families who are trying to rebuild their lives is akin to another atrocity.”

An earlier version of this article included outdated figures on the number of offenses alleged by the attorney general’s office.