South River Man Pleads Guilty To Immigration Fraud: Feds

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – A South River resident and a Bronx-based former immigration attorney pled guilty to large-scale immigration fraud and will pay millions in restitution, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.

Kofi Amankwaa, 70, filed fraudulent immigration documents under the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) and pled guilty on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla.

As part of the plea, he has agreed to forfeit $13,389,000 and pay $16,503,425 in restitution to his victims, authorities said.

From September 2016 through November 2023, Amankwaa and others met with clients and instructed them to sign fraudulent Form I-360 VAWA Petitions falsely stating that the clients were abused by their U.S. citizen children, according to court documents. As the attorney preparer, Amankwaa also signed the petitions, under penalty of perjury.

He then used the filings to request advance parole travel documents for his clients so they could travel abroad temporarily and return. Upon receiving the advance parole travel documents, Amankwaa would ask his clients to travel abroad and return to the U.S, court documents said.

He used the fraudulently procured advance parole as a basis for his clients to apply for lawful permanent resident status, authorities said.

According to authorities, Amankwaa carried out this illegal scheme knowing that his clients had not, in fact, been abused by their children or without ever asking whether any such abuse took place.

He was often unsuccessful in obtaining lawful permanent resident status for his clients because their immigration applications were denied on the basis of fraud, among other reasons, authorities said.

Amankwaa charged his clients between $3,000 and $6,000 for his services, plus administrative fees, court documents said.

In November 2023, following numerous complaints by clients, Amankwaa’s license to practice law in the State of New York was suspended, and in August 2024, he was disbarred.

“Amankwaa’s actions undermined our U.S. immigration system, exploited VAWA — a law that allows noncitizen victims of domestic abuse a path to lawful permanent residence status — and victimized vulnerable clients in the process,” Williams said in a statement. “Today’s guilty plea highlights this Office’s dedication to holding accountable those who abuse the trust placed in them as attorneys and fraudulently use our immigration system as a tool for their own financial gain.”

Anyone who believes they or their family member is a victim of VAWA fraud Amankwaa can contact USANYS.VAWAFraud@usdoj.gov.

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