WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Authorities in Luzerne County are looking for a couple accused of ripping off nearly a dozen people who needed immigration help.
Daniel Martinez presented himself as an attorney to those needing help with things like getting legal working papers, according to the county district attorney's office. Cruz Maria, who was described in court documents as his wife, helped sell this image.
In reality, prosecutors said he doesn't hold a law degree and the roughly twenty thousand dollars he took off of eleven people for doing legal work amounted to fraud.
First Assistant District Attorney Tony Ross said the pair target a vulnerable community challenged by language barriers. He also said the investigation is ongoing, and there could be other victims.
"These people took advantage of the situation and defrauded these people out of thousands," Ross said. "So our investigation continues and we are looking to aggressively prosecute the crimes that were committed."
According to a criminal complaint, Martinez met the victims by word of mouth and through regular stops to a community center in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Investigators started talking to those victims in recent weeks.
Investigators at one point also spoke with Martinez and Cruz.
Martinez told them he never meant to defraud anyone and said he was trying to help people.
Prosecutors say there had been preliminary arrangements for the pair to turn themselves in, but that never happened. Now, warrants are out for their arrest.
They are each facing counts of theft by deception. Martinez is also charged with forgery and criminal use of a communication facility.
Investigators asked that anyone who either thinks they’ve been defrauded or knows where they are to call Detective Neil Murphy at 570-825-1674.