Fraud Tracker
Tracking the latest news on immigration fraud so you don’t have to.
Ukrainian-born man pleads to $7.9 million in immigration fraud
According to court documents, Oleksandr Morgunov, formerly of Key West, helped operate labor staffing companies in southern Florida that facilitated the unauthorized employment of foreign nationals in hotels, bars and restaurants.
Mastermind behind Houston-based marriage fraud scheme sentenced to 10 years in prison
A woman who masterminded of one of the largest marriage fraud conspiracies in U.S. history was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines on Thursday. Ashley Yen Nguyen, 58, will spend the next 10 years in federal prison, serve three additional years of supervised release, and pay $334,605 in fines.
Monrovia man gets 4 years in prison for immigration fraud scheme involving wealthy Chinese nationals
A San Gabriel Valley man was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for scheming to help wealthy Chinese nationals unlawfully gain admission into the United States by falsely making them eligible for student visas through a network of fraud, including imposter test takers, essay ghostwriters and fake transcript sellers.
GAO concludes USCIS has never developed an ‘antifraud strategy’
The Government Accountability Office issued a report concluding that USCIS “has not developed an antifraud strategy to guide their design and implementation and the allocation of resources to its highest-risk areas.
Legal loophole that lets foreigners dupe U.S. citizens into sham marriages, walk out and STILL get a Green Card
According to the Daily Mail, the Violence Against Women Act creates a loophole that gives scammers an easy route to a Green Card. By falsely claiming they were victims of abuse, the foreign spouse can finish their Green Card process alone. Hundreds or thousands cheat the system this way every year, experts say.
SF judge rules in favor of city to stop business from providing 'fraudulent immigration services'
A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the city to stop an immigration consulting business from providing fraudulent immigration services. For years, San Francisco public notary Leo Lacayo has been the focus of investigations by the city attorney's office.
Seattle CBP Officer Receives Probation for Arranging Fake Immigration Marriage
As reported by the Epoch Times, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer named Katherine De Leon Evaristo pled guilty to a Green Card sham marriage in exchange for $20,000. She was busted after making an inquiry into her fake husband’s immigration status while working at CBP’s Office of Field Operations.
Migrant who accused her manager of rape loses lawsuit against the manager and Sbarro Pizza
According to Yahoo News, a pizza manager was exonerated by a jury after an illegal alien had accused him of rape allegedly to obtain a U visa or T visa. The alien had sued the manager for assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She sued Sbarro for sexual harassment, retaliation and negligent retention. She had sought $178 million. The jury sided with Sbarro and Ceballes on all counts.
Convicted Child Molester Sentenced for Immigration Fraud and Judicially Ordered Removed from the United States
According to the DOJ, a Mexican national fraudulently obtained a visa by making materially false statements under oath. Velasco claimed that he had never engaged in any kind of sexual contact with any person who was being forced or threatened. But it was revealed that he had taken indecent liberties with an 11-year-old child.
90 Day Fiance’s Yve Arellano Charged With Domestic Battery, Claims Mohamed Abdelhamed ‘Falsified’ Allegations
According to US Weekly, Yve Arellano claims that her husband falsely accused her of domestic violence in order to secure a U visa. Arellano’s representative stated, “Mohamed and the woman he has been cheating on Yve with have discussed his options from the very beginning. They specifically discussed a U visa and how Mohammed could qualify for [one] just in case Yve found out about his indiscretions.”
Contradictory immigration laws incentivize illegal immigration
According to the Washington Times, victim visa programs encourage immigration fraud and reward foreign nationals for breaking U.S. immigration laws. These programs encourage people to willingly accept unreasonable risk in the hopes of landing the greatest of all prizes – the ability to live and work in the freest country on Earth.
Former Armed Forces Of Liberia Commanding General Charged With Immigration Fraud And Perjury
The DOJ announced the indictment charging Moses Slanger Wright, 69, of Philadelphia, PA, with fraudulently attempting to obtain citizenship, fraud in immigration documents, false statements in relation to naturalization, and perjury in connection with his fraudulent attempt to obtain U.S. citizenship.
Marriage-for-Green-Card Scheme Used Loophole in Violence Against Women Act
As reported in The Epoch Times, hundreds of illegal aliens paid up to $30,000 each to enter into sham marriages to exploit a loophole in VAWA in extensive nation wide marriage fraud scheme.
Eleven Charged with Arranging Sham Marriages and Submitting Fraudulent "Green Cards" Applications for over 400 Non-Citizens
Eleven California-based individuals have been indicted in connection with running a large-scale marriage fraud “agency” that allegedly arranged hundreds of sham marriages entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration laws.
L.A. paralegal to plead guilty to immigration fraud involving Philippines-based church
A Los Angeles paralegal has agreed to plead guilty to helping a Philippines-based church commit immigration fraud by filing fraudulent paperwork in a sham marriage scheme, and whose unwitting victims were then forced to solicit donations in the U.S. to finance the lavish lifestyle of church leaders, federal prosecutors said Friday in court documents.
Allegations of Prosecutorial Misconduct, Brady Violation in Recently Overturned Gonzalez Case
According to the Davis Vanguard, the Third District Appellate Court overturned a murder conviction because the prosecutors failed to disclose that their star witness was applying for a U visa, constituting a Brady Doctrine violation that mandates that prosecutors must turn over potentially exculpatory information to defense teams.
DOJ Announces Charges Against Pennsylvania Man for Immigration Document Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft
As reported in The National Law Review, the DOJ will charge a Philadelphia man for impersonating an immigration attorney and filing false U visa applications.
OIG Report on the U (Crime Victim) Visa Program Is Helpful but Limited
According to CIS, a recently released report on the U visa program for crime victims by Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General is useful in its findings, and is still more helpful by (accidentally) bringing up a basic question: Why should oodles of aliens get a short-term amnesty, with green cards for some, simply because they were crime victims in the U.S.?
Special visa for crime victims is ripe for fraud, mostly useless to police, probe finds
As reported by Just the News, in early 2022 the Office of the Inspector General reported that not only is the U visa ripe for fraud, law enforcement agencies also say it is “mostly useless” for solving crimes.
New York Woman Admits Entering Sham Marriage in Immigration Fraud Case
According to court documents, Audrey Bonet Johnson, a U.S. citizen, and Shanon St. Aubyn Stephenson, a citizen of Jamaica, entered into a fraudulent marriage. Shortly thereafter, Johnson and Stephenson applied to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for Stephenson to become a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., often called a “green card.”