A Virginia woman has been arrested after allegedly pretending to be a licensed psychologist in Stafford County and unlawfully treating hundreds of patients.
A spokesperson with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office told the news outlet that authorities were alerted to Avery’s alleged malpractice by patients who felt they or their children had been misdiagnosed.
“Avery has treated hundreds of children and adults,” Amanda Vicinanzo told CBS6. “She was fired from the medical practice, which is no longer in business.”
Avery reportedly claimed she had two PhDs and a Master’s degree, while investigators said she hadn’t even graduated from college.
The fake psychologist also reportedly testified in court in a juvenile relations case under the guise of a qualified expert, resulting in a charge of perjury.
Avery also faces charges of fraud, forgery, and practicing psychology without a license.
She was charged on May 6 and remains at Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
Massive Marriage Fraud Scheme
The incident recalls the case of an alleged recent fake marriage-for-immigration-status racket.According to the indictment, the scam involves creating sham marriages to help foreign people to attain immigration status and admission into the United States. The main purpose of the scam was to circumvent U.S. immigration laws.
“Marriage fraud is a serious crime,” said District Director Tony Bryson from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Houston.
“This indictment reveals how successful our working relationships are with our law enforcement and intelligence partners when it comes to investigating marriage fraud,” Bryson added. “USCIS remains steadfast in our commitment to ensuring national security, public safety and the integrity of the immigration system.”
Prosecutors say the marriages were shams because the alleged couples did not live together, nor did they have any plan to do so, even though their statements and official documents indicated that they did. Moreover, in some cases, these “spouses” had only met briefly and usually just before obtaining their marriage license. In other cases, they never met at all.
To make a wedding appear real, the organization created fake wedding albums and photos, along with false tax, utility, and employment information so as to not raise suspicion from USCIS and ensure the immigration forms were approved, prosecutors alleged.
One of the middlemen in the scam allegedly received $50,000 to $70,000 from the “beneficiary spouse” for helping them to obtain a full lawful permanent resident status, according to the statement.
According to the indictment, criminal charges include 47 counts of marriage fraud, 50 counts of mail fraud; 51 counts of immigration fraud; 51 counts of false statements under oath in a matter relating to registry of aliens; and one count each of conspiracy to engage in marriage fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, conspiracy to make false statements under oath in a matter relating to registry of aliens, unlawful procurement of naturalization, obstructing and impeding the due administration of justice, and tampering with a witness, victim or informant.
“These arrests mark the culmination of a comprehensive yearlong multi-agency investigation into one of the largest alleged marriage fraud conspiracies ever documented in the Houston area,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson, from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston.
According to the statement, marriage fraud, or conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, has a maximum sentence of five years.