A Sunnyside woman who was charged last year for failing to pay $5 million in MTA taxes for her taxi cab service is now facing charges of asylum fraud as part of her job as an immigration attorney.
According to Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Andreea Dumitru Parcalaboiu, 42, was charged on March 28 with asylum fraud and making false statements.
Between 2012 and 2017, she submitted more than 180 fraudulent I-589 Forms where she knowingly made false statements about the applicants’ criminal histories, personal narratives of alleged persecution, and/or locations. Dumitri is the owner of Andreea Dumitru & Associates, PC, which she operates out of 48-23 Skillman Ave.
“Dumitru is alleged to have used her trusted position to defraud the government, submitting fraudulent documents to claim asylum,” said Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez. “Her alleged actions took up time and resources while those with valid asylum claims waited in line. Now, Dumitru will enter a courtroom as a defendant to face the consequences for her alleged actions.”
The immigration lawyer also forged the signatures of some of her clients and signed forms to confirm that they had signed the forms in her presence.
Dumitru is charged with one count of asylum fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Dumitru, along with her business partner Evgeny Friedman, also operate Taxiclub Management Inc., a company with a fleet of more than 800 medallion taxi cabs with locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Woodside and Long Island City.
In 2017, they were both charged with four counts of first-degree criminal tax fraud and one count of first-degree grand larceny for failing to pay $5 million worth of 50-cent Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) surcharges for each ride.
