NewsChannel 5.com - Nashville, Tennessee - Scam Targets Immigrants Trying To Stay Legal

Scam Targets Immigrants Trying To Stay Legal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - NewsChannel 5 has uncovered a scam that is causing the illegal immigration problem to only get worse in Tennessee.

It's a scam costing taxpayers money and wrecking the lives of thousands of immigrants who are trying to become American citizens legally.

A hidden camera investigation has exposed the problem of scam artists targeting immigrant communities.

Because of existing laws, many undocumented immigrants have little chance of getting their citizenship.

But that hasn't stopped scam artists from trying to cash in on their quest.

An American Latina who helped NewsChannel 5 investigate the problem searched online for a minister to marry her. She said people in the Hispanic community referred him to her.

"This paper that I have now is no good," said Maria, whose full name was not revealed during newscast.

She discovered that Elmer Virula isn't a minister but the target of a state investigation.

According to a lawsuit, Virula mislead customers, many of them immigrants, and married people without a proper license to do so.

"You know it's sickening," Maria said.

She agreed to wear a hidden camera to help expose how some businesses charged hundreds, even thousands of dollars for legal services they legally couldn't deliver.

Investigators believe there are businesses like these across the state.

One scam works of the Spanish-to-English translation. The words "notario publico" translates into English as notary public. In Spanish-speaking countries notario publicos are high-powered attorneys.

But in the United States, notary publics cannot give out legal advice.

These so-called notarios claim they can help immigrants become U.S. citizens. But only immigration attorneys can give out this legal advice.

"They know it's a scam, and they are exploiting the immigrants here," said Anoosh Bahiraei, an immigration attorney with AB Law Group in Nashville.

Bahiraei said almost half of his clients come from one business, Comunidad Hispana.

When Maria went to Comunidad Hispana to file immigration paperwork for NewsChannel 5 where she was told it would cost her hundreds of dollars.

At Carmen Ceja Enterprises, another person visited the company for NewsChannel 5 and learned that for the same service it would cost him $500.

Two immigration attorneys watched the videos of the pair at the businesses and concluded that the businesses broke the law.

"It's a huge problem. It's very common and it's widespread," Bahiraei said.

Also, frivolous claims filed by notarios clog the immigration court system and cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year.

It's another costly component to an ongoing problem, some say, might never be solved.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, NewsChannel 5 will show of the people behind these alleged scams.