Posted on 11/22/2002 2:33:49 PM PST by jern
Posted on Fri, Nov. 22, 2002
42 indicted in Asian immigration fraud ring TIM WHITMIRE Associated Press
An immigration fraud ring centered in Charlotte sold fake and illegally obtained immigration and identification documents to aliens from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, according to a federal indictment announced Friday.
Forty-two people are charged with either running the operation or purchasing documents from it, U.S. Attorney Bob Conrad Jr. said.
Conrad declined to comment on whether the fraud scheme was linked to arrests Thursday at an east Charlotte home. A television report said federal agents believe a prostitution ring with links to international organized crime was operating out of the home.
Conrad said only that investigators were looking into possible criminal activities by people who were in the country on Immigration and Naturalization Service documents obtained through the alleged scheme.
He added, "I think that there's an awareness that identity theft and immigration fraud are terrorism predicates."
According to an indictment filed under seal in Charlotte's U.S. District Court on Nov. 4, the scheme's leaders "solicited illegal aliens from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia to purchase INS documents ... . They promised these persons that the documents provided would allow them to enter or remain in the United States."
During the investigation, Conrad said, the scheme's leaders paid over $292,000 for fraudulent and illegal documents to an undercover agent posing as a corrupt INS agent. Customers typically paid the leaders $45,000 per document, he said.
The documents involved were mostly INS ADIT stamps, which serve as temporary proof of permanent resident status, or "advance parole" letters, which allow someone with a pending residency application to leave and enter the United States, said Richard Gottlieb, head of Charlotte's INS office.
Defendants named in the indictment range in age from 22 to 73 and live in nine different states: Georgia; Maryland; Indiana; North Carolina; California; Florida; New Jersey; Louisiana; and New York.
The indictment identifies as the leader of the scheme Sai Wah Poon, 59, of Brooklyn, N.Y., also known as "Stanley Poon." The indictment alleges Poon paid a total of $85,000 in March and April for fraudulent INS documents.
According to the indictment, payments were made to a man purporting to be a corrupt, Charlotte-based INS agent named Richard Hanson. In fact, Conrad said, "Hanson" was an undercover INS special agent. The undercover agent was assisted by a confidential informant working with INS and the Secret Service, with the informant posing as Hanson's broker, Conrad said.
Conrad said the fraud scheme existed before it was infiltrated by the undercover agent. "We didn't trigger the activity here," he said.
In addition to making cash payments, the scheme's ringleaders also are alleged to have used cocaine and Ecstasy to pay for documents.
The indictment says Poon took leadership of the scheme from Tian Qing Lin, 35, of Kings Mountain, N.C. Also named as leaders are: Mei Mei Poon Chui of Queens, N.Y.; Deming Chen and Chuan Jian Chen of Manhattan, N.Y.; Wei "Jason" Chen of Kings Mountain; Chi Ping Chan and Chuang Zeng Chen of Charlotte; and Wei "Kenny" Chen of Oakdale, La.
The rest of the defendants named in the indictment are alleged to have obtained illegal or fraudulent documents through the scheme.
The indictment charges various defendants with conspiracy, bribery of a public official, possession of fraudulent immigration and identification documents, inducing an illegal alien to enter or reside in the United States illegally, drug possession and drug conspiracy.
As of Friday morning, Conrad said, 21 of the 42 people named in the indictment were in custody. Sai Wah Poon was among those arrested so far, authorities said. Richard Gottlieb, officer in charge of Charlotte's INS office, said an additional 23 illegal aliens had been apprehended in the course of arresting people named in the indictment.
MKM
I could do with an NC Pint!
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