Thirteen people from Brazil and Cuba have been charged by federal indictment in Orlando, Florida, over an alleged immigration-services fraud run through a company called Legacy Imigra Solutions LLC — a case that goes to the heart of a fear every immigrant family knows: paying for expert help with a visa or status case, and allegedly being handed false advice and falsified documents instead. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the charges on Monday, November 2, 2026, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it provided valuable support to the Homeland Security Task Force investigation.
Source: USCIS news release, Nov 2, 2026
The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, unlawful employment of aliens, and marriage fraud. An indictment is a formal accusation, not a conviction: every one of the 13 defendants is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
What prosecutors say Legacy did
According to court records cited by federal authorities, from August 18, 2023 through April 20, 2026, Vagner Sorares De Almeida, 54, owned and operated Legacy Imigra Solutions LLC, a Florida-registered company. Prosecutors allege Legacy falsely purported to be a professional establishment employed by immigration experts and attorneys who could assist individuals with immigration-related legal work.
It was part of the alleged conspiracy, prosecutors say, to give false, inaccurate and incomplete legal and immigration advice to prospective clients to induce them to retain Legacy's services — and Legacy would allegedly falsify immigration documents to fraudulently obtain immigration status and benefits for its clients. Seven of the other defendants — Juliana Colucci, Lucas Felipe Trindade Silva, Nathalia Da Costa Ferreira, Nathalia Gomes Ciriaco, Ronaldo De Campos, Erick Bruno Goncalves De Assis Pinto and Kelen Cristina Da Silva — were employees of the company, according to court records.
Who is charged with what
De Almeida, 54; Juliana Colucci, 47; Lucas Felipe Trindade Silva, 34; and Ronaldo De Campos, 35, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud, four counts of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, and one count of unlawful employment of aliens.
Erick Bruno Goncalves De Assis Pinto, 34; Nathalia Da Costa Ferreira, 43; Nathalia Gomes Ciriaco, 29; and Kelen Cristina Da Silva, 37, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and four counts of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
The remaining charges centre on alleged marriage fraud. Issac Antonio Narvaez, 69, is charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. Ronay Castillo Salazar, 51; Rebeca Aldama Garcia, 40; Mijail Cabera Nunez, 52; and Lorraine Soares Oliverira, 32, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. Prosecutors allege that De Almeida, Colucci, Castillo Salazar, Aldama Garcia, Cabera Nunez, Soares Oliverira and Narvaez conspired together to commit marriage fraud, and that the defendants also engaged in a regular practice of hiring people knowing they were not authorised to work in the United States.
Background: the state case that came first
The federal indictment is a new step in a case that first surfaced in state court earlier this year. The Orange County Sheriff's Office previously arrested De Almeida, Colucci and associates on state racketeering, organised-fraud, extortion and unauthorised-practice-of-law allegations, with Sheriff John Mina saying Legacy had amassed more than $20 million in proceeds while victimising hundreds of people, after complaints from victims and an alert from a Florida Bar attorney who reported fraudulent claims by staff presenting themselves as qualified immigration attorneys. Those state figures and allegations are the sheriff's office's account, and the defendants face them as accusations. The sheriff's office at the time identified seven key victims across Florida, South Carolina, Connecticut and New Jersey, while saying many more people may have been affected.
Source: Orange County Sheriff's Office account via CBS12 / Fox 49 reporting
Why this matters for diaspora readers
Immigration-consultant fraud is not unique to one community. Punjabi families in the United States, Canada and India have repeatedly lost savings to operators who promise work permits, sponsorships or status fixes they cannot deliver — which is why Awaaz Punjab's Pardesi Seva guidance repeats the same checks this case underlines: immigration legal advice should come from a licensed attorney or an accredited representative; demands for cash, blank signed forms, or promises of a guaranteed outcome are warning signs; and suspected immigration benefit fraud can be reported to USCIS through its tip form, as USCIS noted in announcing this case. None of that is a comment on any individual defendant here — it is the consumer-protection lesson federal authorities themselves attach to cases of this kind.
A multi-agency investigation
The case was investigated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Orlando, Tampa and Brasilia, and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, alongside IRS Criminal Investigation, the Department of Labor and Department of Agriculture inspectors general, USCIS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bianca Bansal in the Middle District of Florida.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, each wire-fraud count carries up to 20 years in federal prison; visa-fraud conspiracy up to 10 years; marriage-fraud conspiracy up to 5 years; and unlawful employment of aliens up to 6 months.
What happens next
The 13 defendants will now face arraignment and plea proceedings in federal court in Orlando, where they can contest the government's evidence through motions, negotiations or trial. No trial date was announced with the indictment. Awaaz Punjab will follow the case as court dates and any plea agreements are filed, because its central allegation — that people seeking lawful status were sold falsified paperwork instead — is one that reaches far beyond Florida's Brazilian and Cuban communities.