H-1B fraud ring busted in Georgia
H-1B fraud ring busted in Georgia
Date: Monday, February 19, 2007 4:33 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1643 -- 2/19/2007 >>>>>
Ringleaders of an H-1B fraud scheme were busted in Georgia. Sheng Feng Sun
(aka Joe Sun) and Sang Hun Oh were charged with conspiracy, immigration
document fraud, and money laundering.
Many news articles are appearing on this case, but there hasn't been a
single one that said what happened to the aliens who came here under false
pretenses. This lack of follow-up seems to be very common when visa fraud
rings are busted -- there are a few arrests of the ones who were
facilitating the fraud, but the criminal aliens who came to the U.S. are
apparently allowed to stay in the U.S. I have reported many cases of this
type in the newsletter and not a single time has ICE ever said they were
going after the illegal aliens.
We must assume that these aliens are still wandering throughout the U.S.
Hopefully they aren't terrorists, spies, murderers, or other types of
criminals. The news articles don't give a list of all the nationalities
involved but there were Russians and Koreans.
1) Sheng Feng Sun and Sang Hun Oh sold H-1B visas to aliens for $10,000.
The aliens had no qualifications for the jobs on the visa, and the jobs
didn't actually exist.
2) The visa applications said that the aliens were working at Edgewood
College -- which was a lie. You can view a couple of Labor Condition
Applications that Joe Sun signed by using this link, or by entering
"edgewood" into the search engine:
http://www.h1b.info/lca_job_details.php?oid=a591655&page=1&sort=&name=EDGEWOOD+INSTITUTE+INC&company=edgewood&city=&state=GA&year=ALL
This one is for a position of "associate professor" at $36K per year. Joe
Sun signed the LCA in 2002.
3) Sun and Oh passed out paychecks to the aliens to make them appear to be
on the Edgewood College payroll. The aliens were required to pay back $500
to $800 to Sun and Oh in a clever money laundering scheme.
None of the articles gives a clue about what started the ICE investigation.
Could one of the clues be that Edgewood College is a Chinese medicine
school for herbs and roots?
The learn more about this school, go to:
http://www.edgewood-college.com/
Articles Used for this Newsletter
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=24805&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2
Visa fraud scheme uncovered
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/02/12/daily40.html
Edgewood College execs indicted
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2007/02/16/0216metfake.html
Two charged with immigration visa fraud
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=24805&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2
Visa fraud scheme uncovered
02/16/2007 -
By Melissa Wilson
Staff Writer
melissa.wilson@gwinnettdailypost.com
NORCROSS - Two employees of Edgewood College of Georgia Inc. in Norcross
were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of conspiracy,
immigration document fraud and money laundering.
The previously sealed indictment was unsealed Thursday after the arrests.
According to the indictment, Sheng Feng Sun, aka Joe Sun, 45, of Roswell
and Sang Hun Oh, aka Michael Oh, 35, of Norcross, were involved in a money
laundering and fraudulent visa scheme to sell, for a fee of $10,000,
non-immigrant visas to nonqualifying aliens from May 2003 until January.
Sun and Oh worked for Edgewood College, a vocational school in Norcross.
Sun was the college's principal officer and sole registered agent and Oh
worked as the financial and accounting agent.
Kenneth Smith, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in Atlanta, said Sun and Oh were preparing fraudulent
applications for aliens to find work and come into the country.
The indictment said the H-1B non-immigrant visa program would "allow an
employer to temporarily employ a foreign worker in the United States in a
specialty occupation."
According to a press release issued by Patrick Crosby, spokesman for the
U.S. Attorney's Office, the false visa applications claimed Edgewood
College intended to employ the aliens in skilled labor positions, but in
fact the aliens had no association with the college.
"(Sun and Oh) were using false information in the forms they were
submitting," Smith said. "The workers the forms were for never worked for
the college."
According to the indictment, Sun and Oh issued paychecks from the college
to the aliens. Those people were then obligated to return the money, plus a
fee of $500 to $800 to be paid monthly to Sun and Oh.
"This was for pure financial benefit," Smith said of Oh and Sun's alleged
scheme.
Smith said some of the aliens involved were living in the United States and
others lived outside the country, trying to come to the U.S.
"Those who were seeking the benefit of this knew they weren't working for
the school," he said. "They knew what they were doing."
Sun and Oh face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of
$250,000 for the conspiracy charge. Each of the four counts of visa fraud
carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each
of the 12 money-laundering counts holds a 20-year maximum prison sentence
and $250,000 fine.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of all the funds received throughout the
alleged scheme.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/02/12/daily40.html
Edgewood College execs indicted
Atlanta Business Chronicle - February 15, 2007
A federal grand jury has indicted two metro Atlanta men for their alleged
roles in a white-collar smuggling ring.
The jury on Feb. 15 indicted Sheng Feng Sun (a.k.a. Joe Sun), 45, of
Roswell, Ga., and Sang Hun Oh (a.k.a. Michael Oh) 35, of Norcross, Ga.,
with conspiracy, immigration document fraud and money laundering related to
a scheme to sell, for a fee of $10,000 or more, non-immigrant visas to
non-qualifying aliens.
The indictment was unsealed Thursday with the arrest of Sun and Oh, who are
expected to be arraigned at 4:15 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge E.
Clayton Scofield III. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of all proceeds
of the alleged scheme.
According to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias and the indictment, Sun and Oh are
principal officers of Edgewood College of Georgia in Norcross. Edgewood
College is a vocational school that teaches English as a second language
and provides training in traditional Asian medicine. Sun and Oh are alleged
to have submitted, for a fee of $10,000 or more, false non-immigrant visa
applications to the federal government. These visa applications allegedly
claimed fraudulently that Edgewood College planned to hire the aliens named
in the applications for skilled labor positions, when the aliens had no
association with Edgewood College. The visas issued upon Edgewood College's
fraudulent applications allow the "student" to remain in the United States
for up to three years, which is how Sun and Oh were able to charge a
substantial fee.
The indictment further alleges that to maintain the illusion that the
aliens who obtained fraudulently issued skilled worker visas were actually
employed by Edgewood College, Sun and Oh issued Edgewood College paychecks
to the subject aliens, who were then obligated to return the funds, plus an
additional monthly fee of $500 to $800, to the defendants. Sun and Oh told
the aliens the additional monthly fee was a requirement of their visa fraud
scheme and part of the cost of obtaining a false visa.
The indictment's conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years
in prison and a $250,000 fine. The four visa fraud counts each carry a
maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count,
while the 12 money laundering counts each carry a 20 year maximum prison
term and a fine of $250,000 per count.
"At a time when we must be vigilant about how visas to enter and remain in
the United States are issued and to whom they are issued, those who elect
to defraud the government in applying for worker visas and who profit from
their lies will face federal prosecution," Nahmias said. "Sponsoring
employers who abuse their ability to apply for employee visas will face
prison time, and the criminal proceeds they generate from their schemes
will be forfeited to the United States."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2007/02/16/0216metfake.html
Two charged with immigration visa fraud
By MARY LOU PICKEL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/16/07
In a crime described as "white-collar smuggling," two men who run a
vocational school in Norcross were charged with immigration document fraud
for selling work visas for as much as $30,000, according to federal
prosecutors.
Sheng Feng Sun, 45, of Roswell and Sang Hun Oh, 35, of Norcross were
arrested Thursday and appeared before a federal magistrate using a Korean
translator. Sun was released on bail and Oh was held in federal custody
until his bond hearing continues Wednesday.
The men pretended three foreigners --- with Russian and Korean names ---
worked at their school, federal prosecutors said. They applied for H-1B
visas for the workers and charged them money in exchange, according to an
indictment from a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia.
H-1B visas allow employers to hire foreign workers in a specialty
occupation for up to three years.
"Employers who abuse their ability to apply for employee visas will face
prison time, and the criminal proceeds they generate from their schemes
will be forfeited to the United States," U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said
in a news release.
According to the indictment, Sheng Feng Sun is the principal officer of
Edgewood College of Georgia, located in Norcross, and Sang Hun Oh is the
financial and accounting agent.
The vocational institution teaches English as a Second Language as well as
traditional Asian medicine such as acupuncture and herbology.
"In defrauding the government by using this scheme, these individuals
allegedly were selling access to the United States for their private gain,"
said Ken Smith, special agent in charge of the Atlanta office of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a news release.
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