Woman who allegedly cheated Brazilian immigrants is indicted
A woman who authorities say posed as an immigration expert and cheated Boston-area Brazilian immigrants out of thousands of dollars has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to defraud.
In meetings at the Radisson Hotel in Brockton last year, Emma Gerald described herself as a pastor and told undocumented immigrants from Brazil that she could show them how to qualify for amnesty under a 1986 law, according to immigrant advocates and others who attended. They said entry to the meetings cost as much as $100, and those who accepted her guidance paid as much as $675 in cash.
None of the immigrants was qualified to apply for amnesty under the 1986 law, immigrant advocates said. Those who tried to inform the audience of that fact were denounced by Gerald as demons and removed from the meetings.
Those who paid the fee were advised to lie to the US Department of Homeland Security about how long they had been in the United States, prosecutors said.
Gerald and five others with whom she was indicted also held meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., and in a church in Marietta, Ga., where one of them, Ruy Silva, was a pastor. Gerald was based in Kennesaw, Ga. The federal indictments, issued in Georgia, were unsealed May 18.
Fausto da Rocha , executive director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston, who tried to speak up at one of the Brockton meetings, said he had heard that two Brazilian immigrants in Stoughton had been ordered to leave the country last week for giving false information on their applications. He said he was happy to hear yesterday of the indictments.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 