East Harlem Trio Stole Nearly $30K From Immigrants, Prosecutors Say

EAST HARLEM, NY — Three employees at an East Harlem money transfer agency are facing charges after stealing nearly $30,000 from immigrants trying to send money back to love ones in their home countries, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced.

Perla Ozoria, 30, Vilmania DeJesus, 30, and Ambar Ozoria, 28, have been accused of pocketing $28,000 that should have been sent to immigrants' families in Latin America, state prosecutors said. Perla Ozoria and DeJesus have been charged with scheme to defraud, grand larceny and petit larceny and Ambar Ozoria has been charged with grand larceny, prosecutors said.

The three people ran Girox Express Multiservices, a money transfer agency with offices in East Harlem and the Bronx, prosecutors said. The trio would scheme their customers by providing fake receipts or by initiating a money transfer, providing a real receipt and then immediately canceling the transfer.

Much of the money was stolen during the month of December, when Girox Express Multiservices was offering a special rate to send money back home for the holidays, prosecutors said.

"The holidays were a lot less joyful for a group of New Yorkers sending the fruits of their labor to loved ones in foreign countries," Vance said in a statement. "The defendants allegedly had the audacity to offer a special December rate for high-dollar transfers to Mexico in order to lure even more customers through the door of their money transfer business."

When customers complained about the missing money, the trio would lie and say their systems were down due to the high number of transfers during the holiday season. By December 29 the two Girox Express Multiservices in East Harlem had closed, prosecutors said.

Victims were able to call the DA's Immigrant Affairs Hotline to report the crimes.

“I’d like to thank the victims in this case for reporting this theft by calling my Office’s Immigrant Affairs Hotline," Vance said in a statement. "The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office remains a safe place for undocumented New Yorkers to report crime."

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