MORE than 100 Irish undocumented who were victimized by Ralph Cucciniello, the bogus immigration attorney working out of Yale University, have come forward since the Irish Voice’s article “Bogus Attorney Scammed 100” last week.
It has emerged since that Cucciniello, who was arrested in Manhattan on May 1 and charged with grand larceny and scheme to defraud, was not just a very convincing attorney, he was also a friend who wined and dined some of his victims.
The Irish Voice spoke to some of these individuals about their experience with Cuccineillo and how they have ended up locked out of the U.S. as a result of his lies.
Julie and her boyfriend Kieran (not their real names) from Kilkenny were one of Cucciniello’s first clients in New Haven, Connecticut. The pair, who each paid their so-called Yale attorney $5,000, had met with Cucciniello through the recommendation of a friend who knew the bogus lawyer in August of 2005.
“Ralph became our friend, he took us places and everywhere we went he wouldn’t let us put our hand in our pockets,” recalls Julie. Cucciniello flew the couple to Vegas for a few days, paid for several extravagant meals and invited them to baseball games.
“He really had us fooled,” she said.
Julie, who had been home three times since she filed her application with Cucciniello, embarked on her fourth trip last Christmas with Kieran. While making the return part of their journey back to the U.S. they landed at JFK Airport on January 8, and were subsequently stopped from going any further by the immigration authorities.
“They knew everything about us, and when we told them that we should be in the system through our lawyer at Yale they politely informed us we weren’t.”
Allowed a phone call, Julie immediately called Cucciniello and he informed her the immigration authorities couldn’t find them in the system because they were under a specific group name. He told them to rest assured, he would sort “the misunderstanding” out in a few days. In the meantime both Julie and Kieran were deported back to Ireland.
“To be honest, the fact that Yale was attached to Ralph was good enough for me,” said Julie, mentioning he was extremely attentive about detail pertaining to their paper work. “You couldn’t but believe him.”
The couple were living day to day since January until they were informed of Cucciniello’s arrest on May 1. “We spoke to him literally every day and he always told us that he was sorting it out and we would be back in a few days.” It’s only now the pair are settling back into life in Ireland.
Julie and Kieran, who know at least 40 other victims of Cucciniello, didn’t just give him the initiation fee, they also took his advice and invested in shares he recommended at Yale. As a result they lost an additional $24,000.
When the pair was deported back to Ireland they demanded their money from the shares. “He actually refunded us our money twice but of course both checks bounced,” said Julie, who hoped to use the money as a deposit for a house. “This was a huge chunk of our savings,” she said.
Ray (not his real name), from Dublin also fell prey to Cucciniello’s promise of a green card by September. He, like all of Cucciniello’s victims, was fingerprinted and medically examined, routine procedures when applying for a green card.
He had quite a few meetings with Cucciniello at the Yale law library and was warned on several occasions to “make sure to keep this program quiet, it’s only you that can mess it up for yourself.
“He would say this referring to the ‘loophole’ he had discovered in the immigration system. If other attorney’s find out about this loophole then the program will be over he said,” according to Ray.
Cucciniello, who told Ray, “You have the power of Yale behind you; any trouble you get into contact me and I’ll sort it out immediately,” was in actual fact only a volunteer research assistant to a non law school faculty member. The name of this faculty member has not yet been disclosed.
Ray, who paid Cucciniello an initial fee of $5,000, went home last November on the advice of Cucciniello that he was safe to travel.
“When I got home he (Cucciniello) called and said that my application was under review. He called me several times in between to say there was serious issues with it and finally he told me I was out of the program,” explains Ray, saying that he was extremely angry and upset because he would never have gone back to Ireland if he thought he couldn’t get back into the U.S.
Weeks before Cucciniello’s arrest Ray received word from him that a new dean of the university had been appointed and he was welcomed back into the program. “This was great, I really thought I could come back again. My hope was renewed,” said Ray.
What Ray didn’t know at the time was there was a warrant issued for his arrest. A year ago Ray was pulled over by a police officer while driving without a license. He was due in court a few weeks later.
Cucciniello told him one of the researches at Yale would appear in the court on his behalf. Last fall Cucciniello went as far as to show Ray a document outlining his charges and stated that the case was settled. All Ray had to do was pay Cuccciniello a $380 fine.
However, when Ray was at home in Ireland, waiting for his lawyer to sort out his immigration status, Cucciniello informed him there was some complications with his case but he was sorting through it. He received the following text message from Cucciniello: “Your warrant release was not faxed from Boston until today. We had, as promised someone appearing on your behalf yesterday gratis.
“There are NO criminal warrants now lodged against you and no IRS claims. As long as your overstay is not brought forth, you are eligible for visa waiver re-entry into U.S. at anytime,” Cucciniello wrote.
It has only emerged since Cucciniello’s arrest that he never sent anyone to represent Ray in court and as a result there was a warrant issued for his arrest.
“How can I come back to the states with a warrant out for my arrest?” Ray is currently in the process of trying to get another lawyer to sort out his court issue.
Ray, who has been a member of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform since its foundation said, “He told me I wasn’t undocumented any longer and to think I went to all the rallies in Washington and was fighting hard to get my green card and this happened. Now I’ll probably never get a visa even if an immigration bill passes,” he said.
Ray, who came to the U.S. in 2005 and was eager to get back to the life he had created here, was shocked when Cucciniello told him on the phone in April that his daughter had died.
Cucciniello sent Ray a message, “We lost our daughter last night. I will be back in touch tomorrow,” a week after he informed him over the phone that his daughter was ill in hospital and was about to have a liver transplant.
“Just one of many time delaying tactics used. He also at one point told me he was having keyhole surgery on his heart,” recalls Ray.
Mike (not his real name) from Donegal also hired Cucciniello in an attempt to get his green card. At the consent of his lawyer, Mike took a trip to Vancouver with his Canadian girlfriend in November last year.
Like Julie and Kieran, Mike also got stopped at the border (Canadian) while trying to return.
“When I was allowed a phone call I immediately called Ralph and he informed me that someone might have given me up and I was to keep my mouth shut, not to admit anything and return to Vancouver and he would have us back in the states in a few days,” said Mike.
At the time of print, Mike and his girlfriend were still in Vancouver but have booked a flight back to Ireland in June. Mike’s sister is also undocumented and living in Peru.
“My sister, my girlfriend and I all paid him the $5,000 to get our green cards. He really knew how to make a song and dance,” claims Mike, explaining that Ralph was on the phone to them daily giving them hope that he would get them back into the states.
Cucciniello also paid for a flight and four nights in Dublin for Mike so he could go the American Embassy and pick up a six-month visa. However, when Mike got to Dublin (Cucciniello, who was supposed to accompany him to the embassy ,never showed up) he thought it wiser not to go to the embassy.
“I knew I couldn’t just walk into the embassy and they were going to give me a visa,” recalls Mike. It was then that the Donegal man began to become suspicious of his “immigration lawyer.” He immediately returned to Vancouver.
“The ironic thing out of all this,” said Mike, “was when I met him in the Yale law library at the first interview I told him to his face that his whole program was a scam and he responded with, ‘If you think Yale is a scam…’ When he brought Yale into it, it definitely made it convincing,” remembers Mike.
In a new development on the case, private investigator Olwyn Triggs, founder of Professional Investigators Network, spoke with Cucciniello’s lawyer George Goltzer.
Goltzer, who told the Irish Voice two weeks ago that his client was pleading not guilty, informed Triggs that Cucciniello was willing to give the money back to his victims. “Just have people fax me the receipts that are signed by Ralph and we will process them one at a time,” said Goltzer, who told Triggs that he is in contact with the Manhattan district attorney’s office and he has worked out a mechanism to refund his client’s victims their money.
“I don’t call it restitution but rather refunds because it’s all done without prejudice,” he stated, adding that his client is “trying to do the right thing.”
When Triggs informed Goltzer that she has received calls from over 100 victims since the Irish Voice printed the story last week he said, “That’s encouraging.
Cucciniello, whose passport was confiscated by Manhattan Criminal Court on May 1, is due to appear in front of a Judge again on August 15.
If Cucciniello has victimized others contact Olwyn Triggs at her office at 516-674-4900. Triggs guarantees anonymity to all victims who come forward.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Douglas Kaufman is available at 212-335-4158 and Detective Jose Rodriguez can be contacted at 212-334-0742
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