Defendant Name, Crime, State Year
Maria Luisa Estrella Jaidi, Visa Fraud, New York 2023
White Plains, NY – Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christian J. Schurman, Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, announced today the arrest of Maria Luisa Estrella Jaidi, who was charged by complaint along with her brother, Ramon Singson Estrella, for their involvement in a conspiracy to commit visa fraud, make materially false statements, and induce aliens to illegally come to, enter, and reside in the United States.
Jaidi was arrested today in Ancramdale, New York, and will be presented this afternoon in White Plains federal court before the U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison. Her brother, Ramon Singson Estrella, remains at large.
According to the allegations in the Complaint unsealed in White Plains federal court, Jaidi and her brother conspired with an individual not named as a defendant in the Complaint, CC-1, to fraudulently procure visas for at least seven Filipino domestic workers. CC-1 is a diplomatic agent accredited to the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador. From approximately 1980 through approximately 2016, CC-1 and Jaidi were married.
In order to fraudulently obtain visas for the domestic workers, Jaidi and CC-1 caused the workers to submit visa applications containing materially false statements and to submit fraudulent employment contracts in support of those visa applications. Ramon Singson Estrella, who resides in the Philippines, helped recruit several of the domestic workers to work for Jaidi and CC-1 in the United States and instructed the workers to make false statements in their visa applications and to officials at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
The indictment alleges that Jaidi and her co-conspirators caused five of the domestic workers to falsely state in their visa applications that they would be employed as secretaries, administrative assistants, or technicians at the Moroccan Mission or at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Morocco in Manhattan. The workers were actually employed as personal drivers, domestic helpers, farmhands, and assistants at Jaidi and CC-1’s residence in Bronxville, New York, as well as at their farm in Ancramdale, New York.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is continuing to investigate this case. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at (212) 637-2600.
Cooperation between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Diplomatic Security Service has led to numerous successful prosecutions of individuals who have abused their positions to commit crimes. This case is another example of the importance of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in combating visa fraud and other crimes.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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