 |
May 12, 2005
TWO D.C. LAW FIRMS AND FOUR INDIVIDUALS INDICTED FOR
WIDE-RANGING IMMIGRATION FRAUD SCHEME
Two attorneys and legal assistant arrested by ICE agents in morning raids in D.C. and Baltimore
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Allen F. Loucks, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, and Cynthia O’Connell, Special Agent-in-Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Baltimore, and Gordon S. Heddell, Inspector General, United States Department of Labor, today announced the unsealing of a 149-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on April 26, 2005 charging two law firms and four individuals associated with those firms with conspiracy to commit immigration fraud in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia during a four-year period from April 2001 until the present.
The law firms are the Law Offices of I. Jay Fredman, P.C., at 2120 L Street, NW, Suite 210, Washington, D.C., and Sergei Danilov and Associates, LLC, at 900 19th Street, NW, Suite 201, Washington, D.C.
The individuals charged in the indictment include two attorneys, Irwin Jay Fredman, 72, of Bethesda, Maryland, and Sergei Danilov, 44, of McLean, Virginia, and two legal assistants, Elnur Veliev, 21, of Silver Spring, Maryland, and Alp Canseven, 30, of Washington, D.C. Except for Alp Canseven, all were arrested this morning. Veliev and Danilov have their initial appearances at 3:00 this afternoon in federal court in Baltimore.
The indictment alleges that the defendants profited from the use of fraudulent practices to thwart immigration laws in order to obtain work visas for alien clients who were charged legal fees as high as $22,000.
Under the auspices of the Law Offices of I. Jay Fredman, P.C., and Sergei Danilov and Associates, LLC, the defendants prepared and filed on behalf of alien clients fraudulent labor certification applications with the Department of Labor (DOL) and fraudulent petitions for alien work visas, commonly referred to as “green cards,” with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
One of the fraudulent aspects of these applications and petitions was that the defendants listed Maryland businesses, including an employment agency, a pizza restaurant and a construction company, as the official sponsors for the alien applicants when, in fact, the owners of the businesses never agreed to sponsor them. Some of the documents filed by the defendants contained the forged signatures of the business owners and/or listed false work experience for the alien applicants.
The indictment further alleges that to facilitate the conspiracy some of the payments from the alien applicants were deposited into bank accounts controlled by companies formed by some of the defendants. One such company, formed by Alp Canseven and Sergei Danilov and Associates, LLC, is WCIS, LLC, d/b/a the Washington Center for International Solutions, at 900 19th Street, NW, Suite 201, Washington, D.C. Another company formed by Alp Canseven is USCMFS, Inc., at 5501 Baltimore National Pike, Baltimore, Maryland.
Sergei Danilov, a Russian national, and Elnur Veliev, an Azerbaijan national, are lawful permanent residents and are deportable if convicted of the allegations. Both Irwin Jay Fredman and Alp Canseven are U.S. citizens.
The defendants face a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each count of conviction.
"Today's arrests are the latest enforcement actions in ICE's ongoing effort to restore integrity to the U.S. immigration system," said Special Agent-in-Charge Cynthia O'Connell, who leads ICE investigation in Baltimore. "Through this initiative, we're aggressively targeting criminals responsible for the production of fraudulent documents and exploitation of the immigration system."
United States Attorney Allen F. Loucks stated that “No one is above the law, especially those who are entrusted to enforce our laws. Our justice system depends on the integrity of lawyers and professionals to do their jobs ethically and fairly. This indictment ensures that unscrupulous attorneys who exploit the immigration laws in this post 9-11 era and sponsor aliens illegally will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gordon S. Heddell, Inspector General, United States Department of Labor, stated: "Abuse of the foreign labor certification program by unscrupulous law firms victimizes businesses that have a legitimate need for foreign labor. Attorneys who knowingly violate the law for their own profit will be held accountable for their fraudulent acts. My office is committed to maintaining the integrity and lawful use of the Foreign Labor Certification program."
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual or company charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceeding. The criminal charges in this indictment are the result of a joint investigation by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Joyce K. McDonald.
|
|
