City charges 14 immigration consultants with fraud

City charges 14 immigration consultants with fraud

Sending a strong message that taking advantage of immigrants will not be tolerated, Department of Consumer Services Commissioner Caroline Orzac Schoenberger Wednesday announced the charging of 14 immigration consultants with fraud.

"Our goal is to make sure that no one loses their hard-earned money to an unqualified or unscrupulous immigration consultant or is robbed of their opportunity to live and work in this great country because of the negligence or greed of someone else," she stated.

Charged with an assortment of violations ranging from failing to post their fees, failure to provide foreign language contracts to prospective clients to not having a business license or failure to register with Schoenberger's Department, were Casa Sanchez y Asociado, 1248 W. Chicago Ave.; La Oficina, 1340 W. 18th St.; Agencia y Notaria Cadena, 1642 W. 47th St.; Eer Services, Inc., 2203 W. Roscoe St., Gomez Enterprises, 3218 W. 55th St.; C.L. Travel Agency, 3615 W. 26th St.; Flamingo's Employment Agency, 4204 N. Milwaukee Ave.; Pol Travel, Ltd., 4341 S. Archer Ave.; Tellez Reality and Insurance, 4344 W. 26th St.; Sol de Mexico, 4600 S. Ashland Ave.; Europe Travel Bureau Inc., 5356 W. Belmont Ave.; Cracovia, 5707 W. Irving Park Road; Mundo International Travel, 6161 S. Kedzie Ave.; and Central Service Bureau, 6614 S. Pulaski Road.

"We inspect immigration offices throughout the City. One of the provisions of the ordinance is that they're supposed to be registered with us, so we check to see if they're in compliance," said Connie Buscemi, a spokesperson for the Department.

"It's an ongoing investigation to make sure these businesses don't open up one day and close the next and that they're properly licensed. People must understand what and how much they're paying," she told the Chicago Defender.

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