Prosecutors say $560K immigration ruse snared victims in Spanish-language Twin Cities churches

Spanish speakers were approached in Twin Cities churches and duped into paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for immigration legal services that did not exist, according to charges against three people.

Charges filed Wednesday in Washington County District Court accuse the trio of defrauding at least 25 victims of more than $560,000 with promises of immigration legal services, employment and expedited citizenship through a fictitious attorney named “Isabella Jason.”

Over a nearly three-year span, the victims were recruited primarily from Spanish-language church services in Inver Grove Heights and Woodbury, and the victims were asked to pay thousands of dollars in cash and to sign contracts for services that were never delivered, the charges said.

The alleged scheme ran from January 2023 to this week. The accused mastermind, Kira Milany Romero Pinto, 40, of Lake Elmo, was charged Wednesday in Washington County District Court with one count of racketeering and 11 counts of felony theft by swindle.

Denis Rigoberto Aquino Martinez, 40, Romero Pinto’s husband, was charged with one count of felony theft by swindle and two counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle. Luis Baltazar Leiva Aquino, 48, of Lakeville, was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle.

All three defendants were arrested this week and remain jailed ahead of hearings in the coming weeks. Romero Pinto’s bail is set at $500,000, Aquino Martinez’s is $100,000 and Leiva Aquino’s is $75,000. Court records do not list attorneys for them.

“This case is a disturbing example of individuals exploiting trust within immigrant communities,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said in a statement. “We are committed to holding accountable those who prey on vulnerable residents seeking help and stability.”

Immigration arrests have doubled since Trump took office, with more than 1,000 detentions in Minnesota through the end of July, federal data shows. Deportations are happening at twice the pace compared with during Joe Biden’s time as president.

According to the criminal complaint against the Minnesota trio, on July 10, 12 people met with an investigator, among them the pastor at an Inver Grove Heights church. He said Romero Pinto began attending services in January 2023 and offered to hire worshipers to work in her restaurants but needed “a monetary deposit” first.

He said Romero Pinto offered to sell him a $12,000 gold card that would give him the ability to help others gain U.S. citizenship through this faux attorney. She also encouraged them to recruit other unwitting victims.

In total, the pastor said, he gave Romero Pinto nearly $30,000. Six victims gave her a combined $136,000, while three others handed over $19,700 each. One victim was out more than $48,000 and a couple $40,000.

One man told an investigator that he paid Romero Pinto $22,000 to help his wife become a U.S. citizen. He said he took his wife to Romero Pinto’s home to take a citizenship test.

Once the conspirators realized their victims were on to the scheme, they pressured the victims to keep quiet and threatened to turn them over to authorities for deportation.

On Monday, a law enforcement search of the couple’s home turned up U.S. passports, passport photos and concocted contracts with some of their victims, according to the charges. The contracts bore fingerprints and a stamp. Romero Pinto required her victims to sign them and affix their fingerprint before stamping.

The continuing investigation is being led by the Mendota Heights Police Department, with assistance from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and police departments in Cottage Grove, Inver Grove Heights and Lakeville.