In a notable victory for the City of San Francisco, City Attorney David Chiu confirmed that a Superior Court judge has ruled against a fraudulent immigration consulting firm, securing over $600,000 in penalties and attorney's fees. Leonard Lacayo and Lacayo & Associates found themselves on the wrong side of the law, having continued to dupe immigrants by offering non-sanctioned immigration services, despite a stark 2017 injunction against such practices.
The roots of Lacayo's deceptive enterprise stretch back to 1986, but it was not until 2017 that the City Attorney's Office was able to clamp down on his operations through an injunction. Fast forward to 2022, and despite clear legal directives, Lacayo displayed a blatant disregard for the injunction, which led to the Court imposing a steeper fine. According to a recent report by the City Attorney's Office, Lacayo persisted in his illicit consulting, resulting in another Motion to Enforce filed in June 2025, and the court's subsequent ruling last week.
Milli Atkinson, directing the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at The Justice & Diversity Center of the San Francisco Bar Association, has also weighed in on the issue. "In California, notaries public are not lawyers, but some notaries deceive and defraud the public by implying that they can provide advice or services that they cannot legally provide," Atkinson told the City Attorney's Office. She emphasizes the severe consequences of such fraudulent services; numerous immigrants have faced unwarranted deportation, civil and criminal liability, and steep, unnecessary fees.
The Court issued a clear punishment: $503,500 in civil penalties, an injunction lasting until September 2032, and $110,581 in attorney’s fees against Lacayo & Associates. Lacayo must also turn over business records and client contacts tied to deceptive immigration services to the City Attorney’s Office.
