Ex-CEO of Bay Area university pleads guilty to role in student visa fraud scheme

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The former chief executive officer of a Sunnyvale university pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges stemming from a student visa fraud by the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force under the direction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jerry Wang, 34, the former Chief Executive Officer of Herguan University, admitted in court that he had submitted false documents to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Wang was originally indicted in 2012 on 15 charges in connection with a visa fraud scheme tied to the school. A superseding indictment filed in October 2014 alleges that, starting in July 2007, Wang and others caused Herguan to submit fraudulent documents to the SEVP in support of petitions to admit foreign students. Wang was charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud; aiding and abetting visa fraud; aiding and abetting unauthorized access of a government computer; use of false documents; and aggravated identity theft.

Wang pleaded guilty to the charge of submitting a fraudulent document to the SEVP. In so doing, Wang was able to fraudulently issue I-20s to more than 100 foreign nationals. Wang further admitted to aiding and abetting the unauthorized access of a DHS database, specifically the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.

As part of his plea, Wang agreed to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment between three months and two years, and to forfeit $700,000 in proceeds and property used to facilitate his crimes. Wang's sentencing is set for Sept. 14 before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila in San Jose.

Meanwhile, SEVP recently issued Herguan University a Withdrawal on Notice (WON) seeking to revoke the school's ability to grant nonimmigrant student status to foreign nationals. The school has until April 17 to respond. SEVP will review the school's response and make a determination. If the school is withdrawn following the review and any appeals by the school, SEVP will restrict the school's ability to grant nonimmigrant status to any foreign students still enrolled at the university. At that point, the current foreign students will need to transfer to another SEVP certified school or depart the U.S. before a specified date noted by SEVP. Students seeking further guidance can contact the SEVP Response Center (SRC) at 703-603-3400 or email sevp@ice.dhs.gov. This number is staffed from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Monday through Friday, except holidays.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hartley M. K. West and Maia T. Perez are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Helen Yee, Natachiana Williams, Rosario Calderon, and Trina Khadoo.

The prosecution is the result of an 18-month investigation by the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which is overseen by HSI. The DBFTF is a multi-agency task force that coordinates investigations related to fraud schemes involving immigration documents and benefits.