María de Lourdes Van-Caneghem, a Cuban woman with a lengthy criminal history, was arrested Wednesday in Miami Beach for allegedly impersonating an immigration agent and defrauding multiple individuals seeking to legalize their status in the United States.
The investigation began in March 2025 after victim Elda Hernández reported paying nearly $3,000 to Van-Caneghem under the promise of obtaining U.S. citizenship, only to realize she had been scammed. Telemundo51 reported that three other women also fell victim to the same scheme.
Hernández had approached Van-Caneghem based on a friend’s recommendation, believing her to be a legitimate immigration official. Another victim, Leslie Angulo, paid approximately $2,300 in installments after a Miami meeting where Van-Caneghem posed as an official and took her fingerprints. However, Angulo grew suspicious after researching Van-Caneghem’s past, discovering prior criminal charges.
Miami Beach police arrested Van-Caneghem after linking her Zelle and bank accounts to the victims’ payments. She is currently held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) facing at least 16 charges, including organized fraud, grand theft, and fraudulent use of identification.
This is not Van-Caneghem’s first encounter with the law. In December 2019, she was arrested in Hialeah for operating a fraudulent travel agency that sold fake tickets and rental car services to Cubans. Many customers lost thousands without receiving promised services.
During the 2020 pandemic, she was arrested for staging a traffic accident and defrauding a medical insurer of nearly $23,000. Van-Caneghem has also used false identities, including the alias “María Romero.”
In July 2022, she was again arrested for running “Hello Cuba Travel,” defrauding Cuban families with counterfeit tickets to Cuba and Nicaragua, leading to 25 charges and an estimated $119,000 in losses. Her trial in March 2023 addressed grand theft and organized fraud charges.
Miami-Dade authorities warn the Cuban community to verify any immigration service providers’ legitimacy. Van-Caneghem’s notoriety has sparked public outcry over repeated arrests and releases, prompting some to liken her story to a crime series.
She remains in custody as authorities continue to investigate the total amount defrauded and search for additional victims linked to the latest scam.
