A Sunset Park man accused of being a fake immigration lawyer was indicted on fraud chargesWednesday after allegedly selling an undercover detective a forged Social Security card.
Howard Seidler, 69, allegedly charged an undercover detective from the DA’s office more than $3,000 after meeting with him at the Brooklyn Bar Association’s library. He delivered a forged Social Security card to the detective a few weeks later. The DA’s office said Seidler advertised as an immigration attorney in his Brooklyn neighborhood, and identified himself on business cards and fliers as “Esq.,” PhD” and “J.D.” from November 2014 through May 2015. He is not licensed to practice law in New York State.
Seidler is the first person to be charged under the new immigrant assistance services fraud, enacted four months ago. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the top forgery count against him, and up to four years for immigrant assistance fraud. “We will aggressively investigate and prosecute any and all con artists, especially fake lawyers, who prey on undocumented immigrants to steal their hard-earned money through fraud,” Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson said.
Brooklyn DA busts fake immigration lawyer
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