Immigration Fraud Indictment: 13 Charged in Orlando Case

Thirteen Brazilian and Cuban nationals face federal charges in Orlando over a company prosecutors say posed as an immigration law firm, sold bad advice and falsified documents for its own clients.

A federal immigration fraud indictment in Orlando charges 13 Brazilian and Cuban nationals tied to Legacy Imigra Solutions LLC, a Florida company that prosecutors say presented itself as a full-service immigration law firm without being one. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the case on Nov. 2, alleging that from Aug. 18, 2023, through April 20, 2026, the company gave clients false legal advice to win their business, falsified immigration documents to obtain status and benefits for them, and knowingly hired workers who were not authorized to work in the United States. USCIS, which helped investigate, republished the announcement on its newsroom.

The case targets the people who ran and worked for the business, not its customers. Yet the customers may be most exposed to the fallout: immigrants who paid for help and now have filings in their files that prosecutors call falsified.

The company: Legacy Imigra Solutions LLC, owned and operated by Vagner Sorares De Almeida, 54, according to the Justice Department.
The core allegation: Legacy “falsely purported” to employ immigration experts and attorneys, then falsified documents to obtain immigration status and benefits for clients.
The charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud (up to 20 years per count), conspiracy to commit visa fraud (up to 10 years per count), conspiracy to commit marriage fraud (up to 5 years) and unlawful employment of aliens (up to 6 months).
The split: the owner and several co-defendants face the fraud and visa counts; five defendants are charged only with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
Status: an indictment is a formal accusation, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Who can legally give immigration advice

Federal rules draw a hard line here. Under 8 CFR 292.1, representation before DHS is limited to licensed attorneys in good standing, accredited representatives of organizations recognized by the Justice Department, and a few narrow categories such as supervised law students and unpaid “reputable individuals.” A business without lawyers or accredited representatives can offer clerical help at most, such as typing answers a client supplies. Choosing which benefit to seek or advising on eligibility is legal advice.

That distinction is the heart of the government’s theory. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said Legacy “presented itself as a full-service immigration law firm” while giving “false, inaccurate, and incomplete legal and immigration advice” to draw clients in. The pattern is familiar: in much of Latin America a notario público is a licensed legal professional, a title with no such authority in the United States.

The risk that stays with former clients

A criminal case against preparers does not erase what was filed in a client’s name. Anyone found to have sought an immigration benefit through willful fraud or misrepresentation becomes permanently inadmissible under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), with only limited waivers available. The word “willful” matters: a client who genuinely did not know a document was false has a defense. Yet every applicant signs forms under penalty of perjury, and the likely next step for USCIS is a closer look at petitions and applications linked to the company, through requests for evidence, notices of intent to deny or interview questions.

The marriage-fraud counts carry their own long tail. Separately from any prosecution, INA 204(c) bars approval of any later immigrant petition for a person found to have entered a marriage to evade immigration law, a bar that does not expire. Criminal charges, by contrast, face five- and ten-year limitation periods. Where a benefit has already been granted, the government can also pursue revocation and, for naturalized citizens, denaturalization.

A Homeland Security Task Force case

The investigation ran through a Homeland Security Task Force, the multi-agency structure created under President Trump’s January 2025 executive order on immigration enforcement, and its press page lists the Orlando case on Nov. 2. The roster was unusually wide, from Homeland Security Investigations offices in Orlando, Tampa and Brasília to IRS Criminal Investigation, two inspectors general, USCIS, CBP and three Florida agencies.

USCIS’s presence on that list fits a broader shift. The agency has been positioning itself as an enforcement partner as well as a benefits adjudicator, as reflected in DHS’s 2.2 million enforcement-action tally, and the Justice Department has paired that push with high-volume charging announcements such as its noncitizen voting cases. For the Orlando defendants, the next steps are arraignment and discovery.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds an LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Diego and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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