Fake US University Visa Scam 21 Charged pay-to-stay immigration fraud
Fake US University Visa Scam 21 Charged pay-to-stay immigration fraud
US New Jersey Fake US university exposes 'pay-to-stay' immigration fraud
21 charged with fraudulently enabling hundreds of foreign nationals to remain in US through fake “pay-to-stay” New Jersey college
NEWARK, N.J. —
Twenty-one brokers, recruiters, and employers were arrested Tuesday from across the United States, who allegedly conspired with more than a thousand foreign nationals to fraudulently maintain student and foreign worker visas through a “pay-to-stay” New Jersey college.
The arrests resulted from an extensive probe led by U.S. Immigration and Custom's Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“While the United States fully supports international education, we will vigorously investigate those who seek to exploit the U.S. immigration system,” said ICE Director Sarah R. SaldaƱa. “As a result of this operation, HSI special agents have successfully identified and shut down multiple operations which have abused the student visa program.”
“Individuals engaged in schemes that would undermine the remarkable educational opportunities afforded to international students represent an affront to those who play by the rules. These unscrupulous individuals undermine the integrity of the immigration system,” said Terence S. Opiola, special agent in charge of HSI Newark. “Our special agents are committed to identifying and addressing fraud in order to better protect the system as a whole.”
“Pay-to-Stay schemes not only damage our perception of legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs, they also pose a very real threat to national security,” said Paul J. Fishman, New Jersey United States Attorney. “Today’s arrests, which were made possible by the great undercover work of our law enforcement partners, stopped 21 brokers, recruiters and employers across multiple states who recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain.”
According to court documents, the defendants, many of whom operated recruiting companies for purported international students, were arrested for their involvement in an alleged scheme to enroll foreign nationals as students in the University of Northern New Jersey, a purported for-profit college located in Cranford, New Jersey (UNNJ). Unbeknownst to the defendants and the foreign nationals they conspired with, however, the UNNJ was created in September 2013 by HSI special agents.
Through the UNNJ, undercover HSI agents investigated criminal activities associated with ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), including, but not limited to, student visa fraud and the harboring of aliens for profit.
The UNNJ was not staffed with instructors or educators, had no curriculum, and conducted no actual classes or education activities. The UNNJ operated solely as a storefront location with small offices staffed by special agents posing as school administrators.
UNNJ represented itself as a school that, among other things, was authorized to issue a document known as a “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status for Academic and Language Students,” commonly referred to as a Form I-20. This document, which certifies that a foreign national has been accepted to a school and would be a full-time student, typically enables legitimate foreign students to obtain an F-1 student visa. The F-1 student visa allows a foreign student to enter and/or remain in the United States while the student makes normal progress toward the completion of a full course of study in an SEVP accredited institution.
During the investigation, HSI special agents identified hundreds of foreign nationals, primarily from China and India, who previously entered the U.S. on F-1 non-immigrant student visas to attend other SEVP-authorized schools. Through various recruiting companies and business entities located in New Jersey, California, Illinois, New York, and Virginia, the defendants then enabled approximately 1,076 of these foreign individuals – all of whom were willing participants in the scheme – to fraudulently maintain their non immigrant status in the U.S. on the false pretense that they continued to participate in full courses of study at the UNNJ.
Acting as recruiters, the defendants solicited the involvement of UNNJ administrators to participate in the scheme. During the course of their dealings with undercover agents, the defendants fully acknowledged that none of their foreign national clients would attend any actual courses, earn actual credits, or make academic progress toward an actual degree in a particular field of study. Rather, the defendants facilitated the enrollment of their foreign national clients in UNNJ to fraudulently maintain student visa status, in exchange for kickbacks, or “commissions.” The defendants also facilitated the creation of hundreds of false student records, including transcripts, attendance records, and diplomas, which were purchased by their foreign national conspirators for the purpose of deceiving immigration authorities.
In other instances, the defendants used UNNJ to fraudulently obtain work authorization and work visas for hundreds of their clients. By obtaining this authorization, a number of defendants were able to outsource their foreign national clients as full-time employees with numerous U.S.-based corporations, also in exchange for commission fees. Other defendants devised phony IT projects that were purportedly to occur at the school. These defendants then created and caused to be created false contracts, employment verification letters, transcripts, and other documents. The defendants then paid the undercover agents thousands of dollars to put the school’s letterhead on the sham documents, to sign the documents as school administrators, and to otherwise go along with the scheme.
All of these bogus documents created the illusion that prospective foreign workers would be working at the school in some IT capacity or project. The defendants then used these fictitious documents fraudulently to obtain labor certifications issued by the U.S. Secretary of Labor and then ultimately to petition the U.S. government to obtain H1-B visas for nonimmigrants. These fictitious documents were then submitted to the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS). In the vast majority of circumstances, the foreign worker visas were not issued because USCIS was advised of the ongoing undercover operation.
In addition, starting Tuesday, HSI Newark is coordinating with the ICE Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit (CTCEU) and the SEVP to terminate the nonimmigrant student status for the 1,076 foreign nationals associated with UNNJ, and if applicable, administratively arrest and place them into removal proceedings.
The chart below outlines the charges for each defendant. The charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and making a false statement each carry a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit and H1-B Visa fraud each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine.
Critical assistance in the investigation was provided by: ICE's CTCEU, SEVP; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Fraud Detection and National Security Section and Security Fraud Division and Vermont Service Center; and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs and Office of Fraud Prevention Programs; The Accredited Commission of Career Schools and Colleges; and The State of New Jersey’s Office of Higher Education.
In short, simple language Twenty-one people have been arrested after US authorities Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) set up a fake university to expose immigration fraud.
Officials said the accused knew that the University of Northern New Jersey did not exist, but they were unaware it was a ruse run by immigration agents.
Federal agents set up a fake website and posed as administrators who dealt with suspects.
The agents' recorded conversations with the defendants showed that the practice of paying to extend visas had been going on for years
Most foreign nationals involved in the scheme came from China and India
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Defendant Name – Syed Qasim Abbas a/k/a “Qasim Reza” and “Nayyer”
Age, Residence – 41 Brooklyn, New York
Charges - H1-B Visa fraud, False statements, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Govardhan Dyavarashetty a/k/a “Vardhan Shetty”
Age, Residence – 35 Avenel, New Jersey
Charges - H1-B Visa fraud, False statements, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Karthik Nimmala
Age, Residence – 32 Smyrna, Georgia
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Avinash Shankar
Age, Residence – 35 Bloomington, Illinois
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Harpreet Sachdeva
Age, Residence – 26 Somerset, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Sanjeev Sukhija
Age, Residence – 35 North Brunswick, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Narendra Singh Plaha
Age, Residence – 44 Hillsborough, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Shahjadi M. Parvin, a/k/a “Sarah Patel”
Age, Residence – 54 Hackensack, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Jyoti Patel
Age, Residence – 34 Franklin Park, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Tajesh Kodali
Age, Residence – 44 Edison, New Jersey
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Jason Li a/k/a “Jason Liu” and “Fen Lee”
Age, Residence – 43, Flushing, New York
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Minglu Li a/k/a “Vivian Lee”
Age, Residence – 36 Los Angeles, California
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Xue Yong Liu a/k/a “Jack Liu”
Age, Residence – 29 New York, New York
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Zheng Zhang a/k/a “Vicky Zhang”
Age, Residence – 26 New York, New York
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Yanjun Lin a/k/a “Aimee Lin”
Age, Residence – 25 Flushing, New York
Charges – Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Ting Zue a/k/a “Tiffany Xue”
Age, Residence – 28 Flushing, New York
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Chaun Kit Yuen a/k/a “Alvin Yuen”
Age, Residence – 24 Rowland Heights, California
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Zitong Wen a/k/a “Kate Wen”
Age, Residence – 27, Rowland Heights, California
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Philip Junlin Li
Age, Residence – 33 Los Angeles, California
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Jiaming Wang, a/k/a “Celine Wang”
Age, Residence – 34 Los Angeles, California
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
Defendant Name – Jun Shen a/k/a “Jeanette Shen”
Age, Residence – 32 Levittown, New York
Charges – Conspiracy to commit visa fraud, Conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit
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Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Tags – US Pay to Stay Visa Scam USA India China
4 comments:
This scam has shamed US A lot.
not just in USA but in UK too there are so many fake Uni's and people in india are duping so many with the incentive of sending to uk.
and here there are thousands of students who dont know what to do and are living a life of poverty
All these people Need to be HANGED.. because they have put so many families and lifes in danger
Bikram's
@Kirtivasan Ganesan
thanks.
@Bikram
thanks.