By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A man posing as as a United Nations attorney was indicted Monday on charges he scammed Haitian immigrants in New York who believed he could provide them with legal services, the Manhattan District Attorney said.
Marc Payen, 28, a former UN volunteer and Haitian native, met with his alleged victims in a public lobby at the UN between September 2009 and April 2010 and offered to handle their paperwork for "temporary protected status" eligibility after the devastating earthquake in January, prosecutors said.
Payen provided his duped clients with fake paperwork that claimed to authenticate their approval for protected status, prosecutors said.
He was charged with grand larceny and other charges in the 23-count indictment. Prosecutors believe other victims of Payen's alleged scam have yet to come forward.
Payen pleaded guilty to a similar crime in Queens and paid victims $40,000 in restitution, the full amount of the alleged fraud and was sentenced to probation, prosecutors said Monday at his state Supreme Court arraignment in Manhattan.
Payen's attorney said his client was arrested Monday on the Manhattan charges while visiting his probation officer.
