(EOIR) Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program Newsletters, 2012-2017
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Description of document: Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program Newsletters, 2012-2017 Requested date: 2017 Released date: 28-July-2017 Posted date: 02-October-2017 Source of document: Office of the General Counsel Attn: FOIA Service Center Executive Office for Immigration Review 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1903 Falls Church, VA 22041 Email: [email protected] The governmentattic.org web site (“the site”) is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. 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U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review Office ofthe General Counsel 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1903 Falls Church, Virginia 22041 July 28, 2017 RE: Freedom of Information Act Request - Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program Newsletters This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), in which you seek copies of the Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program Newsletters. Enclosed is a computer disk containing the information responsive to your FOIA request. Please be advised that EOIR has redacted one of the Newsletters pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(6), because it contains information that would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(E), which affords protection to all law enforcement information that would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions; and 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A), which concerns records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. There will be no charge for this information. For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c) (2006 & Supp. IV 2010). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist. See http://www.justice.gov/oip/foiapost/20l2foiapost9.htmL You may contact the analyst who processed your FOIA request and/or the FOIA Public Liaison at the telephone number 703-605-1297 for any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740- 6001; e-mail at [email protected]; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769. If you are not satisfied with my response to this request, you may administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office oflnformation Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice, Suite 11050, 1425 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001 , or you may submit an appeal through OIP's FOIAonline portal by creating an account on the following web site: https://foiaonline regulations.gov/foia/action/public/home. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal." Z)_tJ!l- Sandra Williams Government Information Specialist Enclosure: CD EOIR FOIA# 2017-30309 OGC Fraud Program Crier A publication of the Office of the General Counsel, Executive Office for Immigration Review, July 2012 OGC Fraud Program News Greetings from the Fraud Prevention Program! Fraud Program Contact Information: Fraud Program Intranet Link: http://eoirweb/component/OGC/FraudProgram/webhomepage.stm. Fraud Program In Box: [email protected]. Kathy John, Fraud and Abuse Prevention Counsel: [email protected] or (703) 605-1282. Patricia Wegner, Paralegal Specialist: [email protected] or (703) 305-0172. News Briefs Indian National Pleads Guilty to 33 Instances of Visa Fraud (Wilmington, DE) Srinivas Doppalapudi, a citizen of India and lawful permanent resident of the United States, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware to multiple counts of visa fraud and money laundering. In entering the plea, Mr. Doppalapudi admitted that on 33 occasions between March 2007 and September 2010 he utilized his various businesses to request H-1B temporary employment visas for foreign nationals who had no intention of working for him. In most cases, the visa requests were made on behalf of persons who were residing in the country on student visas that were about to expire. Mr. Doppalapudi also transferred more than $1 million in criminal proceeds from his business bank accounts in the United States to a personal bank account in India. He is scheduled for sentencing in September 2012. He also faces possible removal from the United States. To read more, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/de/press/2012/Doppalapudi.pdf. Six Defendants Sentenced for Marriage Fraud Scheme (Boise, ID) Jenny Sedano-Vilcapoma, a Peruvian citizen living in Ketchum, Idaho, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to 12 months plus one day in prison and fined $1,000 for her role in orchestrating a marriage fraud conspiracy. She also faces possible removal from the United States. In 2006, Ms. Sedano-Vilcapoma entered into a marriage with a United States citizen for the sole purpose of obtaining immigration benefits and, in applying for benefits, misrepresented to immigration authorities that her marriage was legitimate. She also assisted other Peruvian nationals in arranging sham marriages. Co-defendant Rudy Isla-Mejico, who assisted Ms. Sedano-Vilcapoma in recruiting American citizens to participate in the sham marriages, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and was sentenced to five years’ probation and fined $1,000. Four citizens who were paid to participate in fraudulent marriages arranged by Ms. Sedano-Vilcapoma — Joshua Lee Buell, Daniel Casado, Anthony 1 Joseph Scafidi, and Bryon Thomas Bain — each pleaded guilty to making false statements in an immigration application. Mr. Buell and Mr. Casado were sentenced to five years’ probation and 60 hours of community service and were fined $5,000 and $3,500, respectively. Mr. Scafidi was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $5,000. Mr. Bain was fined $3,500. To read more, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/id/news/2012/jun/vilcapoma06212012.html. Eleven Persons Indicted for Trafficking Fraudulent IDs (Grand Rapids, MI) Eleven foreign nationals, most of whom are members of the same family, were indicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan for conspiring to produce and traffic fraudulent U.S. identification documents, including “green cards” and Social Security cards. The defendants are as follows: Juan Jose Morales-Martinez, Jacinto Morales-Martinez, Maria De La Luz Mendoza-Martinez, Jacinto Jonathan Morales-Mendoza, Ricardo Uriel Morales-Jimenez, Hugo Alexis Morales-Jimenez, Luis Alberto Morales-Jimenez, Giovanni Sanabria-Morales, Rodolfo Esquivel, Ledin Over Ovalle-Perez, and Amparo Mercado. According to law enforcement authorities, ten of the defendants are Mexican citizens residing unlawfully in the United States. One defendant, Mr. Ovalle-Perez, reportedly is a Guatemalan citizen residing unlawfully in the United States. If convicted, the defendants face maximum penalties of 15 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. To read more, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/miw/news/2012/2012_0625_Morales_Martinez_etal.html. Authorities Halt Multi-State Document Fraud Conspiracy (Newark, NJ) Federal authorities in New Jersey have brought criminal charges against 22 persons for their role in a multi-state conspiracy that assisted illegal aliens fraudulently obtain U.S. driver’s licenses. According to court documents, Young-Kyu Park, formerly of Fort Lee, New Jersey, was the ringleader of the conspiracy which operated in Palisades Park and Fort Lee, New Jersey, as well as in California, Georgia, New York, Nevada, and Virginia. Mr. Park and his co-defendants allegedly shepherded hundreds of alien customers, primarily from the Korean immigrant community, through the driver’s license application process and provided them with stolen, altered, or counterfeit documents to aid in substantiating claims of lawful U.S. residence. The documents included altered passports, counterfeit utility bills and bank statements, and genuine I-797 Notice of Action forms, which reportedly were stolen by defendant Martin Trejo, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) contract employee at the agency’s Western Forms Center in Montclair, California. Customers reportedly paid from $3,000 to $4,500 for the documents and services they received.