What's Being Done To Contact Victims of the Recent Fake Divorce Scam?

Earlier this month, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office announced the arrest of Anastasya Varvaryuk on charges the 29-year-old Elmwood Park woman sold fraudulent divorce judgments to unsuspecting clients, and represented the judgments as valid. Varvaryuk is also alleged to have forged the signature of a Superior Court Judge on falsified documents to create the appearance of authenticity.

Varvaryuk faces three to five years in prison for each of the two charges of practicing law without a license and forgery.

The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office Financial Crimes Unit has made it clear that its investigation into this matter continues. What is not clear, however, is how the victims of Ms. Varvaryuks’s alleged crimes will be delivered the news that their divorces are fake and their marriages still very much valid.

This is an important step, especially since the consequences for these spouses not knowing the truth of their circumstances could be dire, or even criminal.

For example, if one or both spouses have gone on to marry again since their “divorce” was supposedly finalized, they may be unknowingly committing bigamy — the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another — which is considered a crime in New Jersey and other states. This would also invalidate the subsequent marriage, creating more deep-reaching repercussions.

If either of the involved parties is in the process of completing immigration paperwork, which could be likely given the demographics of the Clifton neighborhood where Varvaryuk’s storefront was located, inclusion of falsified documents could result in an automatic denial of their application.

Further still, if any of the divorces Varvaryuk’s allegedly oversaw involved children, the child custody agreements that resulted may not put the best interests of children first, or even worse in some situations, could have the potential to put children in harm’s way.

And of course, there is the issue of the financial terms reached in these fraudulent divorces. Were spouses informed of their rights to share in certain assets, including 401ks and other retirement plans? In the event alimony or child support was put in place, was it fairly calculated? Given the complexities of dividing marital assets, it’s easy to conclude that legal advice allegedly dispensed by Varvaryuk led to settlements that were almost certainly error-filled or downright wrong. Every divorcing couple deserves the opportunity to create a fair and equitable settlement.

Identifying and getting in touch with victims may be no small task. The Prosecutor’s Office has not yet released the number of couples affected and Varvaryuk’s records may be incomplete or non-existent. It could also be that one or both spouses may have relocated to another state or changed addresses within the state, or perhaps they simply missed the small surge in local news coverage of this case because they were away for the long holiday weekend.

As the investigation continues, we will hopefully learn more about how exactly authorities plan to go about victim notification, and what kind of further intervention is required to bring justice to these victims. Perhaps a task force could be set up to assist with these efforts. In the meantime, it seems reasonable that — if available — a list of names of the affected parties be distributed to courts and law enforcement agencies and others who can help alert these people. Despite the current unknowns, we must persist in calling for action in this matter on behalf of these unfortunate victims who were just trying to bring finality to what can be one of life’s most difficult experiences.

If you are one of the affected spouses caught up in this scandal, or you are aware or suspect your spouse had dealings with this Varvaryuk over the course of your divorce, taking swift — and smart — action may be the best way to keep your children safe and your future secured.

And these are two very real things worth fighting for.

For those who may be concerned that their divorce may have been handled by this woman, family law firm Weinberger Law Group has created a step-by-step guide of how to verify this.