A California lawyer has seized the practice of a fake lawyer who allegedly exploited Filipino immigrants.
Salve Esperanza’s office was seized on November 21 for engaging in unauthorized law practice, state bar officials said.
During the seizure, the state court recovered 30 boxes of client files and five computers from Esperanza’s Olympic Avenue office, where she operated as Prestige Network Resource Consulting.
State officials said an investigation into some of Esperanza’s cases revealed that many immigrants from the Philippines had been exploited.
“In one case, a Filipino client who thought Esperanza was a lawyer paid her more than $11,000 in November 2019 to help Esperanza and his wife establish U.S. residency. ” the California attorney said in a media release. “Ms. Esperanza assured her clients that she has helped many Filipinos secure legal status and that she will handle all necessary procedures with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”
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After meeting with the couple, Esperanza instructed them to attend a specific university in Los Angeles to secure student visas and to work for a specific employer.
“The couple did both. But after nine months of inaction, this man learned that his case had been dismissed because Mr. Esperanza had failed to provide important documents,” authorities said. said the person. ”
In a separate three-year lawsuit, another client and his wife paid Esperanza’s immigration services about $12,000, which included filing a green card application.
She told the couple to work for the same specific employer that would sponsor the job on their application.
“Despite repeated assurances, Ms. Esperanza failed to provide the required immigration documents, lied when she told her client that her employment permit had arrived, and when the client came to pick up the documents, she lied. , claimed that the documents were delivered to the wrong address,” the state’s attorney’s release states. . “She also misled the couple with the timeline, stating that the employer wanted to delay Ms. Esperanza’s green card application for three years.”
The couple’s immigration application was also denied, according to the state court.
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Further investigation revealed that Esperanza, who lives in Los Angeles, had filed numerous fraudulent filings with federal immigration authorities that listed her work address instead of her home address as the point of contact for clients. She has repeatedly misrepresented herself as an attorney or authorized representative, which is a violation of immigration law.
The state bar’s Office of the Chief Trial Counsel sent Esperanza numerous letters and warnings. However, she did not respond or provide evidence that she was authorized to practice law, authorities said.
Clients or former clients of Salve Esperanza or prestige Network Resource Consulting Inc. seeking the return of their files should contact the state court’s dedicated telephone number at 213-765-1581.
To file an unauthorized practice complaint in state court, click here.
There is no cost and no U.S. citizenship is required. This form is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
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