Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson and federal authorities announced yesterday that a Brooklyn woman was charged with defrauding five immigrants into paying about $12,850 for promised green cards and work permits that never materialized.
Nickya Wittington a/k/a Nicky John, 27, of 280 Grafton Street in Brownsville, was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on first-degree scheme to defraud, third-degree grand larceny, third-degree attempted grand larceny, fourth-degree grand larceny and petit larceny. She was ordered held on $5,000 bail and to return to court on February 4, 2015. If convicted of the top count, she faces up to seven years in prison.
The bust comes just weeks after President Obama issued an executive order allowing some five million undocumented immigrants a rod to become legal in this country. Since that announcement, representatives from Thompson’s office have been attending community board meeting and warning attendees of the possibility of more fraud relating to Obama’s executive order.
“This defendant is accused of preying on some of the most vulnerable members of our society. I created an Immigrant Fraud Unit – which is prosecuting this case – to stop such opportunists from targeting undocumented individuals,” said Thomson on the bust.
According to the indictment, from June 10, 2014 to December 9, 2014, Wittington falsely claimed she could obtain green cards and work permits for the alleged victims in exchange for between $7,000 to $10,000, and allegedly took down payments ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 cash to get the process started.
The victims – who were originally from Ghana, Liberia, Guyana and Jamaica – met the defendant through mutual acquaintances.
