By April Drew

CHRISTINE Owad, the scam immigration practitioner whose crimes against the undocumented were first uncovered by the Irish Voice in 2005, has been ordered by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to pay an additional $150,000 in restitution to her dozens of victims.

“This individual ripped off dozens of people who were looking to build a future in New York. She ruthlessly exploited those who came to this country seeking the American dream. I am glad we were able to bring this individual to justice and repay the victims of her deceit,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Owad promised green cards to dozens of Irish undocumented throughout New York, claiming to have an inside track on securing status. She charged thousands of dollars for her so-called services, and guaranteed success even in the most hopeless of cases.

On March 22, State Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Dolan issued his second judgment against Owad, a resident of Greene County in upstate New York, awarding further monetary relief to her victims. Dolan awarded restitution of $89,357.75 for 24 victims who came forward, and awarded the state an additional $60,000 in civil penalties.

This was the second judgment that Dolan has issued against Owad. In September 2006, Dolan issued a judgment awarding the state $105,000 in civil penalties and $2,000 in costs, and restitution of $197,898.14 for 55 victims.

In February 2006, Dolan issued a broad injunction requiring Owad to comply with the law and barring her from engaging in the immigration consulting business unless she posts a bond of $200,000 with the Attorney General’s office. She has never posted the bond.

Her 110-acre farm in Greene County is currently in receivership and up for sale as a way to offer restitution to the victims.

Owad’s legal troubles are far from over. The Manhattan DA’s office has indicted her for a scheme to defraud the immigrants for whom the attorney general has obtained the judgments for restitution, since most of the victims were solicited in New York City. Those charges are still pending.