Two Pakistanis now living in Texas face two decades in prison after being caught by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a massive scheme involving not only money laundering and fraud, but also Pakistani migrant smuggling into the United States via visa fraud. Such is what the FBI announced on Friday, May 23.
Announcing the momentous news and describing, in brief, what the two immigrants did that landed them in such massive trouble, the Department of Justice said, in a press release, that the two Pakistani immigrants living in Texas, Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir, were “charged by indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) conspiracy.” It then noted that the two men were “also charged with unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain United States citizenship.”
Continuing, the DOJ explained that the law office and company with which they were affiliated had engaged in a visa fraud scheme meant to enrich them by allowing “individuals to fraudulently obtain entry into and immigration status in the United States.” Explaining how they did so, the DOJ alleged that they “submitted and caused to be submitted false and fraudulent visa applications for individuals who were not United States citizens (hereinafter referred to as “visa seekers”), and applications to adjust status of the visa seekers so the visa seekers could enter and remain in the United States.”
Explaining how they did that later on in the press release, the DOJ explained that there were a number of immigration programs they exploited for visa fraud purposes, noting, “As part of the scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants exploited the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programs.”
Then, describing what else they did to make those fraudulent visas work, the DOJ noted that they created a bevy of fake jobs and job ads so as to satisfy job requirements for the employment-related visas, saying, “Specifically, the defendants caused classified advertisements to be placed in a daily periodical for non-existent jobs. These advertisements were placed in order to satisfy a Department of Labor (“DOL”) requirement to offer the position to United States citizens before hiring foreign nationals.”
Those employment lies, in turn, allowed them to get fraudulent visas for visa seekers, as the DOJ alleged: “Once they received the fraudulently obtained certification for from the Department of Labor, the defendants filed a petition to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) to obtain an immigrant visa for the visa seekers.”
That, in turn, led to fake payroll payments and attempts to get green cards, all of which were based on a bedrock of fraud, as the DOJ alleged: “At the time the petitions were submitted, the defendants also submitted an application for legal permanent residence so that the visa seekers could also obtain a green card. According to the indictment, to make the non-existent jobs look legitimate, the defendants received payment from visa seekers, then returned a portion of the money back to the visa seekers as purported payroll.”
"*" indicates required fields
Now, the DOJ noted, the two men face decades in federal prison and denaturalization, saying, “If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison. Murshid faces denaturalization if convicted of unlawfully obtaining and attempting to obtain his United States citizenship.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Chad E. Meacham, commenting on the matter and describing the massive extent of the fraud scheme that the two men were engaging in, said, “These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain. Pursuing criminal charges to deter and punish this type of flagrant disregard for the lawful immigration process is a top priority of this Office.”
Similarly, FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock noted that they were taking advantage of the lax American immigration process for years on end, saying, “The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation’s immigration laws. These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process.”
Watch Andy Biggs sound off on rampant fraud in the American immigration system here: