The Mission District storefront that claims to house a “Law Group” does not, in fact, have any attorneys, and a court just ruled they have to pay $600,000 for conning payments from immigrants seeking legal services for years.
Right next to the Safeway at Mission and 30th streets, nestled between a La Alteña taqueria and a Stiiizy pot dispensary, sits a storefront calling itself “Lacayo.” Its website advertises tax preparation and notary services, but the same storefront also advertises “Iscandari Law Group.”
We have seen some right-wing political signs in the window, though never a Trump sign, but Mission Local has popped in during 2016 and saw Trump signs on the office’s interior. We will say that some of the conservative-leaning signage in the window seems like it would scare off immigrants instead of enticing them, given the current climate.
The fact that Mission Local visited in 2016 is no accident, as proprietor Leo Lacayo was accused at the time of fraudulently impersonating an immigration attorney. This has apparently been going on for nearly nine years since, as today the Chronicle reports that a court just fined Lacayo $600,000 for what the City Attorney calls an unlawful and “predatory immigration consulting business.”
This case goes back to 2016 when Dennis Herrera was City Attorney, and the Lacayo & Associates firm was allegedly presenting themselves as immigration attorneys, despite having no credentials to do so. Herrera said Lacayo had been doing shoddy and bogus legal work for years, charging immigrants untold thousands of dollars.
“Leonard Lacayo has demonstrated zero regard for the law or the immigrant communities he claims to serve,” SF City Attorney Chiu said in a Tuesday announcement. “For years, he has targeted vulnerable immigrants, taking their money while putting them in legal jeopardy. His actions are particularly egregious during a time of mass deportations and heightened fear in our immigrant communities. Immigration services are desperately needed right now, but I want the public to know that Lacayo is not legally allowed to provide immigration services of any kind.”
Mission Local’s reporting says Lacayo blames his prosecution on his support for Donald Trump.
But a look at Lacayo & Associates’s Yelp reviews shows the stark contrast that reviewers are very pleased with their tax preparation services, but feel completely scammed by their immigration consultant services.
As noted, the front signage advertises an “Iscandari Law Group.” There is an Iscandari Law Group in Oakland, with a valid California Bar license. But Chiu’s announcement today says that Lacayo & Associates “has never been licensed to practice law,” and adds that “Lacayo had falsely portrayed himself as an attorney and either provided services he was not qualified to provide or simply failed to provide any service at all.”
Lacayo has been hit with injunctions and penalties since 2017, and has reportedly simply ignored them.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that “Defendant’s conduct is egregious and ongoing and more restrained corrective actions have not been effective. The court imposes civil penalties in the amount of $500 per day between the date of the court’s 2022 enforcement order and the filing of the People’s present motion, for a total of $503,500.”
Lacayo & Associates is still open for business as of Tuesday afternoon. But the legal ruling bars the firm from providing any immigration services through September 2032, and demands that Lacayo hand over the contact information for anyone for whom he did provide immigration services, so their mess can hopefully be cleaned up.
Images: Joe Kukura, SFist
