Promised U.S. citizenship for thousands of dollars: Cuban woman arrested in Miami for new scam

María de Lourdes Van-Caneghem, a Cuban woman with an extensive criminal record, was arrested this Wednesday in Miami Beach after being accused of impersonating an immigration agent and defrauding several individuals who were seeking to regularize their status in the United States.

The new investigation against Van-Caneghem, 50, began in March 2025 when a victim, identified as Elda Hernández, reported that she had given nearly 3,000 dollars to the suspect to supposedly obtain U.S. citizenship, but was scammed.

Telemundo51 reported that three other women have accused Van-Caneghem of the same scam. Hernández explained that she approached her because a friend assured her that the Cuban was an immigration official.

Later, Leslie Angulo, another friend of Hernández, was also scammed. She handed over around 2,300 dollars in several payments, after a meeting in Miami, where the suspect appeared dressed as an official and took her fingerprints.

However, something was not clearly explained to Angulo during that meeting. He began to suspect, and while searching for Van-Caneghem's information online, he found previous reports detailing the criminal history of the accused.

Capture and new charges

Van-Caneghem was arrested by the Miami Beach police after it was confirmed that her Zelle account and her bank account were directly linked to the payments made by the victims.

Currently, she is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK), facing at least 16 charges related to fraud, including organized scheme to defraud, third-degree grand theft, fraudulent use of identification, and organized fraud.

A history marked by repeated scams

This is not the first time that María de Lourdes Van-Caneghem faces charges for similar offenses. In December 2019, she was arrested in Hialeah for operating the travel agency “Ñooo, me fui,” located at 2201 Okeechobee Road in the west of the city. There, she sold fake tickets and car rental services to Cubans wishing to visit the island.

Many of those customers lost thousands of dollars without receiving the promised services. They would arrive at the airport and find out they couldn't fly.

In 2020, during the pandemic, Van-Caneghem was arrested for staging a traffic accident and defrauding a medical insurer of nearly 23,000 dollars. Additionally, she has used false identities, such as the alias “María Romero”, when she was apprehended by the police in Medley.

In July 2022, she was arrested again for running the agency “Hello Cuba Travel” and defrauding Cuban families with fake tickets to Cuba and Nicaragua. At that time, she was charged with 25 counts and it was estimated that she had defrauded over $119,000.

It was tried in March 2023, when she had to face at least 25 charges that included grand theft and organized fraud.

The authorities in Miami-Dade have reiterated the importance of verifying the legitimacy of any person or agency offering immigration services, especially within the Cuban community.

Recurrent and well-known on social media

The notoriety of Van-Caneghem is such that her name has circulated for years in the media and on social networks. Many users question why she continues to be released after each arrest, allowing her to reoffend. Some have even suggested that her story seems straight out of a crime series.

Meanwhile, the woman remains in custody, and authorities are expected to disclose in the coming days the total amount of money fraudulently obtained, as well as whether additional victims could emerge in this new scam case in Miami.

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