A Chester County woman is facing a superseding indictment with multiple charges, including asylum fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion, related to a scheme that reportedly spanned several years. The U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania disclosed that 65-year-old Fatima DeMaria, who ran Immigration Matters Legal Services in Oxford, Pa., falsely claimed to be an immigration attorney capable of assisting undocumented individuals in obtaining work permits. According to the Justice Department, DeMaria is not a licensed lawyer and was not authorized to represent clients in immigration proceedings.
From December 2021 to at least July 2024, DeMaria allegedly prepared fraudulent Form I-589 asylum applications on behalf of her clients, without their knowledge or consent. The indictment asserts that she made false statements on these applications, indicating that the clients were seeking asylum based on political opinion or under the Torture Convention, categories for which the clients were not eligible. Moreover, the superseding indictment contends that signatures of DeMaria's clients were affixed to these applications, falsely certifying their accuracy under penalty of perjury.
The government alleges DeMaria also did not inform clients about the potential repercussions of filing these baseless asylum applications, such as being placed in removal proceedings if their applications were rejected or referred, potentially jeopardizing their opportunities for future immigration benefits. DeMaria reportedly charged individuals between $6,000-$9,000 and couples $12,000-$15,000 for her purported legal services.
Alongside the fraud allegations, DeMaria is accused of tax evasion. The indictment details that DeMaria and her husband attempted to evade a substantial portion of their income tax by not reporting significant business income from her legal services, which included deposits into her personal bank accounts and structuring these transactions to obscure the true income amount. This concealed income allegedly included money withdrawn at casinos.
If found guilty on all counts, DeMaria faces a possible maximum sentence of 260 years in prison and a $5 million fine. The government also seeks forfeiture of at least $1 million, which they claim are the proceeds of her fraudulent activities. The case has involved efforts from multiple federal agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation. While the charges in the indictment are presently just accusations, it remains that every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court, a fundamental tenet of the American judicial system.
