ICE officer arrested for identity theft, sharing confidential records with former NYC mayor’s office staffer: DA

An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters in Washington, DC.
An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo credit Alex Wong/Getty Images

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – An ICE deportation officer was arrested for identity theft and sharing confidential records, including tipping off an FBI target and using his ICE authority to arrest individuals as favors for friends, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Henry Yau, 41, was charged with identity theft conspiracy, conspiracy to convert government records and property and disclose agency records containing individually identifiable information, conversion of government records and property and disclosure of agency records containing individually identifiable information, according to Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

According to court documents, Yau, who worked for ICE from 2015 to 2024, had access to sensitive law enforcement databases, including immigration, border crossing, and criminal history records.

Starting in 2017, Yau shared confidential information from these databases about at least 28 individuals with at least 12 non-law enforcement people, including Tommy Lin, a former Director of Constituent Services in the New York City Mayor’s Office, as well as others involved in fraudulent activities.

Prosecutors allege that Yau provided Lin with information to target a person for arrest and deportation as part of a bank fraud conspiracy. After arresting the individual, Yau allegedly sent Lin photos of the person in handcuffs. Lin allegedly earned $20,000 in cash from this scheme.

Lin, 41, a former director in the mayor’s office, in June, faced charges of bank fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and aggravated identity theft.

Yau also allegedly shared confidential information with other individuals, including a former political candidate, a target of an FBI fraud investigation in California, and a former business partner. This included immigration statuses, details about border crossings, and whether someone was under investigation.

“Henry Yau, a supervisory law enforcement officer within U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, allegedly engaged in a years-long scheme to disseminate non-public and sensitive information from law enforcement databases to friends and acquaintances,” Williams said.  “As I have said before, public service is a privilege, not a right, and the career prosecutors of this Office and our law enforcement partners will never stop investigating those who seek to abuse that privilege.”

Featured Image Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images