Queens man sentenced for posing as immigration lawyer, DA says

A Queens man was sentenced Thursday to 364 days in jail for allegedly stealing $74,000 in total from more than 40 victims in Nassau and Queens while posing as an immigration attorney, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.

Edier Alberto Alvarez, 36, of Queens, had previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 18, 2021 before Nassau County Judge Teresa K. Corrigan to fourth-degree grand larceny.

According to the Nassau D.A.’s office, a joint investigation by multiple agencies — including the Nassau County and Queens District Attorney’s offices, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security Unit at the New York Asylum Office — found that between 2017 and 2019, Alvarez misappropriated payments from a Nassau County law office that focuses on immigration law.

He worked there as a paralegal at the time, with clients seeking assistance with immigration cases.

Alvarez had allegedly misrepresented himself as an attorney to two prospective clients, accepting money directly from them to assist with their cases, prosecutors said. In both instances, the clients paid money and did not receive any services.

Additionally, the Queens D.A.’s Office had also received complaints from seven additional individuals in 2020 alleging that Alvarez had accepted money from them for legal immigration services and did not provide them with any service.

Geoffrey Stewart, a Manhattan-based attorney representing Alvarez, told Newsday that his client was "very remorseful and had admitted his guilt and hopefully can put this behind him."

David M. Sperling, an immigration attorney whose Hempstead law office employed Alvarez, told Newsday that when Alvarez was hired in 2017, he seemed "very friendly and had a real presence about him" before the firm discovered he was taking advantage of clients.

Sperling said his firm's attorneys have since worked without charging to finish cases with clients who Alvarez had taken money from. Sperling said the firm has since put in safety measures to prevent such actions from reoccurring in the future.

"We had a lot of work to do to preserve people's confidence in us, but everything worked out in the end and I'm very glad that Nassau County D.A's office took such an active role," Sperling said.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a news release that Alvarez "stole tens of thousands of dollars from dozens of victims who believed they were his clients, exploiting them as they attempted to navigate the legal system with sensitive immigration matters."

"We encourage anyone who believes they may have been victimized to contact the NCDA Office of Immigrant Affairs at (516) 571-7756," Donnelly said.

"The victims were duped by this charlatan who took their money and dashed their hopes," Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz said in the release. "I want to thank the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and our other law enforcement partners for their dedication to bringing justice to the 40 victims in this case."