The South Bay woman accused of posing as an attorney so she could take advantage of immigrants has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, according to a National City fraud detective.
Micallela Aguilera Coleman was taken into custody in Huntington Beach Tuesday night, about two months after NBC 7 Investigates first reported on allegations against her.
Alleged victim A.J. Aguirre told NBC 7 her family gave Aguilera $3,000 because she said she could offer them legal help and immigration services. Some of Aguirre’s family members are not legally allowed to live or work in the U.S.
After meeting with Aguilera at church, they gave her their payments over a series of weeks in February. But Aguirre said she began to mistrust Aguilera, so she recorded a conversation they had on Feb. 4. In it, Aguilera tells the family how to respond to questions at an upcoming immigration hearing.
"They are going to ask you how much you paid me. Zero," she is heard saying. "I have not charged you one penny. You paid immigration." Aguirre told NBC 7 that is not true, for the family had already given her several cash installments.
Then two days later, Aguilera never showed up at the immigration appointment she said she’d attend. Aguirre discovered on Feb. 19 that Aguilera never filed any paperwork for the family with immigration agencies.
Though she was worried about her family’s immigration status, Aguirre finally filed a police report with the National City Police Department.
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NBC 7 Investigates checked state bar websites for licensed attorneys in all 50 states but could not find Aguilera listed as an attorney in any of the databases under any variation of her name. She also has not returned multiple calls from NBC 7 and requests for comment.
Court records show Aguilera has been convicted in California for charges that include the unauthorized practice of law, possession of bad checks and fraud.
She was wanted by Michigan state police on fraud. It’s unclear if that is why she was arrested Tuesday.
