SANTA ANA, California
A federal grand jury has indicted a San Diego man for allegedly impersonating a federal agent and using that fake position to defraud more than 25 Orange County victims who sought immigration assistance, including “green cards” and United States citizenship, the Justice Department announced today.
Davyd George Brand Jimenez, 52, of San Ysidro, was named in a 25-count indictment a federal grand jury returned Wednesday afternoon.
Federal authorities are currently seeking Brand Jimenez.
The indictment charges Brand Jimenez with ten 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.
According to the indictment, Brand Jimenez pretended to be a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and used that false title to scam victims. ICE has never employed Brand Jimenez.
According to the indictment, Brand Jimenez primarily targeted undocumented Latino community members, telling victims he could help them obtain work permits, legal United States residency, and U.S. citizenship.
Brand Jimenez falsely claimed to be an ICE agent by showing a fake ICE badge.
Under that assumed persona, he promised to help his victims – most of whom were illegally present in the United States – obtain legal residency (also known as a “green card”), work permits, or U.S. citizenship.
According to the indictment, from April 2019 to November 2020, Brand Jimenez charged each victim between $10,000 and $20,000.
In addition to falsely claiming to be an ICE federal agent or a federal “Homeland Security” official, Brand Jimenez allegedly sometimes told victims that he was a “G-18” federal official, which is a non-existent position.
Brand Jimenez failed to file immigration paperwork for his victims, and he never obtained any immigration benefits for them, according to the indictment.
Because he was not providing any immigration benefits for his victims, Brand Jimenez allegedly fabricated immigration documents with the victims’ names that fraudulently displayed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security emblem.
Brand Jimenez also allegedly fabricated a stay of the deportation order and provided it to one of his victims as alleged proof that the victim would not be deported, which was untrue.
In another instance, Brand Jimenez allegedly provided a victim with a valid Social Security card, a U.S. passport card, and a California Identification Card. Then, he directed the victim to use those documents under a different person’s name as proof of authorization to reside and work in the United States.
Brand Jimenez is considered a fugitive after failing to appear for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty in an unrelated narcotics case in San Diego federal court.
Brand Jimenez is presumed innocent of the narcotics charges unless proven guilty.
If convicted of all charges, Brand Jimenez faces up to 20 years in prison for each mail fraud and wire fraud count, ten years in federal prison for each count of misusing a passport, five years in federal prison for each count of wrongful use of a government seal, three years in federal prison for each count of impersonating a federal officer, and a mandatory two-year prison sentence for each aggravated identity theft count.
The FBI Orange County Resident Office investigated the case and received assistance from the Santa Ana Police Department.
Anyone with information regarding Jimenez’s current whereabouts should take no action but should immediately 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.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Pell of the Santa Ana Branch Office is prosecuting this case.