An extensive investigation performed by the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, in partnership with the Office of Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, has resulted in immigration-related criminal charges in two separate cases. The City Attorney’s office filed the charges and announced the cases on Tuesday.
Judith Gil, 65, and her daughter Minerva Gil, 36, of Los Angeles are charged with multiple criminal counts based on their alleged operation of an illegal immigration consulting business. Judith and Minerva Gil are both accused of defrauding Los Angeles County residents—in turn, jeopardizing their immigration status—by illegally posing as immigration consultants, without any qualifications. Judith Gil is further alleged to have charged clients thousands of dollars for her services while offering them false information and unqualified legal advice. The criminal complaint against Judith Gil includes 17 charges ranging from grand theft and immigration consultant statute violations to the unauthorized practice of law. Minerva Gil has been charged with improperly acting as an immigration consultant and with the unauthorized practice of law. Arraignment for Judith and Minerva Gil will be scheduled for March 12, 2019 in Department 48 of the Los Angeles County Criminal Justice Center.
In a second case, Eddie Rivas Bonilla, 54, of Los Angeles, has been similarly charged with improperly acting as an immigration consultant and with the unauthorized practice of law. Bonilla was previously convicted for similar conduct by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office in 2017, and is also alleged to have violated the terms of that probation. Arraignment for Bonilla will be scheduled for February 13, 2019, in Department 48 of the Los Angeles County Criminal Justice Center.
If you believe you have been a victim in these cases or in any suspected immigration fraud, please contact the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs at (800) 593-8222