SAN DIEGO — A 52-year-old San Diego man is accused of impersonating a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and defrauding more than 25 Orange County victims who sought immigration assistance, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Davyd George Brand Jimenez, of San Ysidro, was indicted by a federal grand jury. The indictment charges Brand Jimenez with 10 counts of false impersonation of a federal officer or employee, three counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, seven counts of fraudulent possession and use of U.S. government seals, three counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of misusing a United States passport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Brand Jimenez, who was never employed by ICE, mostly targeted undocumented members of the Latino community and told them he could help them obtain work permits, according to the indictment.
“Brand Jimenez falsely claimed to be an ICE agent, including by showing a fake ICE badge. Under that assumed persona, he promised that he could help his victims – most of whom were illegally present in the United States – to obtain legal residency (also known as a “green card”), work permits, or U.S. citizenship,” the release said.
Each victim was charged between $10,000 and $20,00 from April 2019 to November 2020, according to the indictment.
Brand Jimenez is considered to be a fugitive as he did not show up to a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty in an unrelated narcotics case in San Diego federal court, officials said. He is currently being sought by federal authorities.
Anyone with information regarding Jimenez’s current whereabouts were asked to call the FBI’s toll-free tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or https://tips.fbi.gov/ or contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-WANTED-2.