Government Actions
The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. We are providing a summary of the government's allegations, which have not yet been proven.
On September 22, 2011, Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit against Defendants Vytautas Lekarauskas, individually, and dba Usaimmigrationsupport.com, United States Immigration Organization, and US Immigration Organization, Inc. for alleged violations of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
Madigan alleges the Defendants fraudulently charged immigrant consumers upfront fees ranging from $40 to more than $1,000 each to assist with services and document preparation. The Defendants allegedly charged consumers multiple times, in some instances. The lawsuit alleges Lekarauskas deceptively marketed and represented his website,
www.USAimmigrationsupport.com, as an official government site. The website features a logo that closely mimics a federal seal next to the title "United States Immigration Organization," and attempts to make consumers believe it is an official government site where they can obtain passports, visa and citizenship applications, according to Madigan.
Madigan also says that Lekarauskas' website encourages consumers to apply for these federal documents, which are available for free through legitimate government sources, and charges substantial fees to simply apply - $149 for passport applications, $450 for green card applications, $680 for citizenship applications, for example. According to the lawsuit, consumers never received the documents for which they applied.
Madigan said Lekarauskas misled consumers to believe they were hiring an attorney to assist with document preparation, application filing and other services through that site and his United States Immigration Organization Inc., although Lekarauskas is not a licensed attorney.
Additionally, Madigan alleges the Defendants failed to utilize a written contract, both in English and the consumer's native language.
Madigan is asking the court to ban Lekarauskas from the business of immigration service in Illinois and cease operating his website or any variation of it under a different domain name or URL. The lawsuit also asks the court to void pending consumer contracts and order the defendant to pay restitution to consumers. Madigan also asked the court to impose civil penalties on Lekarauskas of $50,000 for violating the Consumer Fraud Act and an additional $50,000 for each violation committed with the intent to defraud.
