By Georgina Brennan

The case against fraudulent immigration practitioner Christine Owad, currently under investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office for scamming hundreds of undocumented Irish people out of thousands of dollars, has taken a new twist.

Investigators have revealed that Owad, who furnished immigration advice and promised green cards, has been trading with a variety of Social Security numbers, dates of birth and names.

Added to this, sources close to the investigation reveal that Owad had previously come to the attention of the immigration authorities, the United States Citizenship and Information Service, and a file of all of her applications was being held in Vermont for investigation.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says the agency cannot comment on Owad in particular, but that those filing fraudulent files with the agency are noticed.

“It is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy to neither deny nor confirm any investigation, however it is an ICE priority to ensure the integrity of the immigration system and to that end we will investigate any lead that would insinuate a challenge to that integrity that was brought to our attention,” said Mark Thorn, a spokesperson for the agency.

According to the Attorney General Spitzer’s office, Owad has been served papers putting her out of business, and as victims continue to join the lawsuit, their case is strengthening.

Owad was deposed on Friday and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Owad, from Greene County, upstate New York, has filed forms to the immigration services for over 200 people. The story was exclusively reported by the Irish Voice last month.

Owad has been working in the Irish community since December 2004 and was called a miracle worker by some of the undocumented.

Promising work permits and green cards that they could not legally get, Owad arranged to meet her victims in bars and cafes across the city and upstate and assured them they would become legal. In fact there was no hope of legalization for these undocumented immigrants.

The hope of many of her clients that they still have a case pending and a green card waiting for them has been dashed with the revelation that their forms have not been processed and are sitting in a file folder because Owad filed them fraudulently.

The file will most likely be sent to the attorney general to add to the case.