HONOLULU (KHON2) — They’ve been ripping people off for years by selling fake jewelry. Now a group of scammers is being kicked out of the country. Homeland Security Investigations is cracking down using their immigration authority to clean house.
Criminals selling fake jewelry have been preying on unsuspecting buyers in Hawaii for years. Lucia Cabral-DeArmas, the HSI Honolulu special agent in charge, wants them to know the gold rush is over.
“If they come after a community, we come after them,” Cabral-DeArmas said.
She said at least six men from Romania and Bosnia were arrested on Kauai last week, suspected of operating an organized crime ring selling fraudulent jewelry
According to a spokesperson for the Kauai Police Department, they were arrested for fraud. In a statement, they said “The offenses were dismissed without prejudice by the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, and the individuals were taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations on [Feb. 22].”
“Based on their criminal history, they have not only victimized communities in our Hawaiian islands, but they have actually done this in the mainland,” Cabral-DeArmas explained.
She said they concoct schemes and victimize people until police get close, then move on to the next place.
According to Cabral-DeArmas, this is not the first time the alleged scammers have been arrested.
“It’s one of many. The difference is that this time they will be kicked out of the United States,” she said. “I know that these particular individuals were arrested at some point when they were trying to go to Big Island. Which makes sense cause this is what they do.”
She said they scammed people out of at least $100,000 that HSI knows of, but it’s likely much more cause not every crime is reported.
While this has been going on for years, HSI says they stepped in now as they were able to use their immigration authority, among other circumstances.
“We’re stepping in because, number one we want to make sure that we’re cleaning our neighborhoods,” Cabral-DeArmas explained. “And if that means that I utilize my immigration authority to make sure that criminals are deported from our country, than I will do that.”
Cabral-DeArmas said the Coast Guard helped transport the suspects from Kauai to Oahu where they are being held at the Federal Detention Center awaiting deportation.
Last month alone, she said HSI removed roughly 11,000 immigrants from the U.S. because of their immigration status, whether they came in illegally, overstayed their visa or committed a crime.
In late January, HSI Honolulu arrested over a dozen illegal immigrants who Cabral-DeArmas described as the “worst of the worst.” She said they had served time for crimes like drug trafficking, assault and kidnapping.