Bay Area Immigration Attorney Extradited from Kyrgyzstan on Visa Fraud Charges

SAN JOSE, Calif.—An immigration attorney extradited from Kyrgyzstan made her initial appearance in federal district court in San Jose on March 7.

Danhong “Jean” Chen, 60, conversed with federal public defense lawyers outside the courtroom for roughly thirty minutes before being wheeled into the courtroom by an officer.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a complaint against her on October 18, 2018. The following day, Chen left the United States. Authorities once speculated that she resided in China, as noted in a 2022 SEC complaint.

Established by Congress in 1990, the EB-5 program permits foreign nationals to achieve permanent U.S. residency, commonly referred to as a green card, after two years of investment in businesses and creating jobs within the U.S. At the time of Chen’s indictment, the minimum investment requirement varied between $500,000 and $1 million, depending on the employment rate in the area.

“Chen prepared and submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fraudulent documents with false signatures, misrepresenting how applicants would qualify for the EB-5 program,” the press release indicates.

Clients represented by the Law Offices of Jean D. Chen, established in 2007 in California and managed by Chen, collectively invested around $52 million under the EB-5 program, according to prosecutors.

Chen is also accused of “falsifying documents to conceal the actual ownership and nature of a regional center.” The press release mentions that Chen acquired the Golden State Regional Center, which is an approved EB-5 regional center, along with other entities, and promptly transferred ownership to another name after the purchases.

According to the 2022 SEC complaint, Chen and Ye “facilitated their clients’ investments in the center without revealing to those clients or any other investors that they managed and controlled it or were involved in the development of specific projects.”

Furthermore, they have been accused of pressuring the straw owner of the Golden State Regional Center to lie to SEC investigators and instructing an individual to erase emails pertinent to the investigation.

Chen faces 10 counts of visa fraud, two counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

She is the first individual extradited from Kyrgyzstan on federal criminal charges since the U.S. established diplomatic relations with the country in 1991, following its independence from the Soviet Union, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California.

Source link