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Minn. Attorney General Sues Immigration Scammer

May 13, 2014 (1 min read)

"The Minnesota Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against against a woman and her companies for allegedly posing as an attorney and charging immigrants thousands of dollars for legal work on immigration matters that she was not authorized to perform.  The lawsuit was filed against American Group US, Inc., The Legacy Firm Corporation, and Ornella Hammerschmidt of Shakopee.  "This is an example of someone exploiting the complexity and cost of the legal process to their own advantage and to the detriment of others," said Attorney General Lori Swanson.  Swanson says the defendants charged Spanish-speaking immigrants with limited English language proficiency as much as $12,000 for legal work on immigration matters. The legal work included assistance on applications for citizenship, asylum, and other immigration matters. The Attorney General's Office maintains that Hammerschmidt is not an attorney but represented herself one and held her companies out as being capable of providing immigration legal services." - KARE, May 13, 2014.