FBI突襲曼哈頓唐人街 掃蕩移民詐欺26人被控
18日FBI聯合紐約警方展開近年來針對華人社區最大移民詐欺掃蕩行動，在全市大舉查緝十家涉嫌造假的移民律師樓。被查律師樓大部分位於曼哈坦華埠和皇後區法拉盛，代理的桉件逾千件。有「福州大道」之稱的華埠東百匯大道18日上午11時起即被警方封街，當場逮捕約十名律師及律師樓工作人員，沒收大量文件。
路透社報道，FBI日前突襲了曼哈頓唐人街，20多位律師，律師助理，翻譯和其他10個移民律師事務所被指控編造複雜的謊言，幫助數以百計的中國客戶欺騙移民局，申請移民綠卡
全部26名被告人面對指控犯移民欺詐。還有兩個被控出售偽造的出生證明與身份欺詐。
被告面對5至35年徒刑。
被告人為:
Feng Leng Liu, lawyer,46;
Vanessa Bandrich, lawyer,33;
Feng Li, lawyer,31;
Yuchang"David" Miao, office manager,47;
Shuran"Harry" Liu, office manager,35;
Kevin Lnu, paralegal, age unknown;
Wen Ting Zheng, paralegal,26;
Guo Qin"Lillian" Miao, office manager,45;
Sunny Yang, paralegal, age unknown;
Ken Giles, lawyer,53;
Hong Che, aka Julie Chen, office manager,49;
Freddy Jacobs, lawyer,63;
Fnu"Daisy" Yang, office manager, age unknown;
John Wang, lawyer,32;
Dejin Huang, paralegal,60;
Jian En Wang, office manager,46;
Lianna Chen, translator,24;
Yong"Tom" Zhang, translator,38;
Song"Marshal" Luo, translator,34;
Zian Jun Yang, translator,58;
Zeyuan"Steve" Wang, paralegal,32;
Xu Lu, office manager,42;
Huan Wang, paralegal,40;
Liying Lin, religious trainer,29;
Xiao Feng Xu, office manager,57;
Xia Ping"Wendy" Wen, office manager,49.
Law Firms Are Accused of Aiding Chinese Immigrants’ False Asylum Claims
Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times
F.B.I. agents during a raid in Chinatown in Manhattan =”description”>They invented woeful tales of persecution for their Chinese clients. Prepped them>In all,26 people, including6 lawyers, were charged Tuesday with helping Chinese immigrants submit false asylum claims in an effort to stay in the United States, law enforcement officials said.
The indictments describe elaborate schemes based in law offices in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, Queens, which involved teams of paralegals and office managers, translators and a church official, who conspired to dupeimmigration officials by inventing stories of political and religious persecution for their clients, officials said.
The indictments say female clients who sought asylum based>More than20 defendants were arrested in raids in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, capping a three-year investigation.
Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused the defendants of“weaving elaborate fictions” and making it“more difficult for those e legitimately seeking refuge in this country.”
The indictments charged employees of at least10 law firms, the authorities said. In the past few years, the firms filed more than1,900 asylum applications, according to the indictments; officials did not say how many they believe were fraudulent.
Tuesday’s operation appeared to be among the largest roundups of lawyers and their associates in New York City in connection with asylum fraud allegations. Even so, the federal indictments>Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian-American studies and urban affairs at Hunter College, said he believed most Chinese asylum cases in New York City were fraudulent.“This is an industry,” Mr. Kwong said.“Everybody knows about it, and these violations go>Immigrants can apply for asylum within a year of arriving in the United States and may qualify if they can show that they have suffered persecution or have a“well-founded fear of future persecution”>Far more Chinese immigrants seek and receive asylum in the United States than any other group, government figures show. In fiscal year2011, about8,600 Chinese immigrants received asylum, or more than34 percent of all successful asylum seekers.
The investigation began after federal immigration officials in New York told investigators they were seeing similarities in many of the cases they were handling, according to an official briefed>In many of the cases reviewed by investigators, Chinese immigrants said they had been persecuted for being Christian or followers of Falun Gong. Others said they were persecuted for their political leanings. Yet others claimed they had suffered forcible abortions under China’s family-planning rules, the authorities said.
But investigators determined that many of the asylum applicants“had not actually suffered persecution in China,” according to the indictments.
In exchange for money, the indictments state,“the law firm would make up a story of persecution and the client would need to memorize that story.”
Many of the law firms referred clients to the Full Gospel Church in Flushing, where they would meet with a church official, Liying Lin, prosecutors said.
Ms. Lin,29, provided services to asylum seekers including“training in the basic tenets of Christianity,” prosecutors said. But much of Ms. Lin’s instruction was specifically aimed at tricking the immigration authorities, according to the indictment against her, which claimed that she“trained asylum applicants>In return for such instruction, applicants“were expected to make cash donations.” For an additional price, Ms. Lin provided certificates showing“the client’s attendance at church and/or the client’s baptism,” according to the indictment.
All26 defendants were charged with conspiring to commigration fraud. They were awaiting arraignment Tuesday night.
來源：阿波羅網