New York “attorney” Andreea Dumitru Parcalaboiu was found guilty of large-scale asylum fraud after she was caught running a scheme to help immigrants who would normally be denied entry to the US, win asylum in the country, The Epoch Times reports.

Parcalaboiu’s fraudulent immigration scam allowed dangerous criminals to apply for and be granted asylum in the U.S. by fabricating travel history and personal testimonies.

She was previously investigated over a $5 million corporate tax evasion scheme, and charged with several crimes related to her role as an immigration attorney. After a two-week trial at a federal court in Manhattan, Parcalaboiu was found guilty of asylum fraud, making false statements to immigration authorities, and aggravated identity theft.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement, “Andreea Dumitru, an immigration attorney, scammed the asylum program, which was designed to provide safe harbor for the world’s most vulnerable people. She will now serve time in prison for her crimes.”

Berman said that between 2013 and 2017, she submitted more than 180 fraudulent I-589 forms (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal) in which she knowingly made false statements about the applicants’ travel histories, criminal histories, and personal narratives of alleged persecution. He added that Dumitru deliberately forged her clients’ signatures, falsely notarized affidavits, and fabricated detailed personal stories of purported mistreatment of her clients.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent said the woman’s actions were harmful because they obstructed timely processing of claims by legitimate asylum-seekers.

“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, according to a QNS report.“Her alleged actions took up time and resources while those with valid asylum claims waited in line. ”

Dumitru was found guilty on one count of asylum fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison. United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan presided over the defendant’s two-week trial at a federal court in Manhattan.

According to a QNS report, Dumitru served as the chief financial officer of 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, she and business partner Evgeny Friedman 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.

She is the owner of Andreea Dumitru & Associates, a law firm located in Queens, New York.