A Montebello woman has been charged with 48 felony counts after she allegedly impersonated government officials and defrauded more than 30 victims seeking immigration services, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors filed an arrest warrant Wednesday for Romina Aida Zadorian, 48, for fraudulent immigration services provided at a business at her residence.
Zadorian allegedly told victims she worked for the government in various roles and had “special connections” regarding immigration services. She allegedly made false promises to victims that she could “expedite the processing of visas, resident alien cards and citizen petitions for the victims and their families,” a DA’s office news release said.
She told some of the alleged victims she was an attorney, prosecutors said.
The crimes allegedly occurred between April 1, 2015, and March 11, 2017.
In 2009, Zadorian was convicted of defrauding 106 clients from 2003 to 2008 and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison after pleading no contest to the charges. She also had to repay $892,240 to victims she had defrauded, officials said.
Zadorian was released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Officials in 2013 after serving four years in prison following a series of term-reducing credits, officials said. It is unclear why she was released to ICE.
Zadorioan currently faces “29 counts of grand theft of personal property, six counts of forgery relating to an item exceeding $950 in value, three counts each of false government document activity, criminal threats and extortion, two counts first-degree residential burglary, one count of each of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and petty theft with three priors,” the DA’s office said.
She also faces an allegation of excessive-taking of more than $150,000, officials said. Prosecutors allege Zadorian did not provide the services she promised and that she collected $223,500 from 32 victims she defrauded.
Zadorian’s bail has been set at $1.2 million and she is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.