SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA – The owner of a San Gabriel immigration consulting business and one of his employees have been sentenced to federal prison for charging up to $6,500 to prepare and file fraudulent asylum applications for Chinese nationals.
Haoren Ma, 50, of San Gabriel, the owner of New Arrival Immigration Service, and Ma’s employee, Minghan Dong, 49, of San Gabriel, falsely claimed that their clients fled China after being persecuted for their Christian beliefs, even in situations where their clients said they were Buddhists, officials said.
Ma was sentenced last week to four year and six months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy, immigration document fraud and aggravated identity theft.
On Monday, Ma’s employee, Minghan Dong, 49, of San Gabriel, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for conspiracy to commit immigration document fraud.
Homeland Security Investigators linked the defendants to more than 800 asylum applications filed since 2000, making it one of the largest asylum fraud cases uncovered in the Los Angeles area in recent years.
Federal authorities found that many of the asylum applications prepared by the defendants contained nearly identical accounts of purported persecution, including descriptions of underground church meetings that led to arrests and torture by Chinese authorities.
As part of the scheme, officials said Ma and Dong provided their clients with detailed written materials and audio tapes on Christianity to help them prepare for their asylum interviews.
Suspicions about New Arrival Immigration Service first arose in January 2009 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a package containing a stuffed animal that contained five fraudulent Chinese passports linked to New Arrival.
“As this sentence makes clear, those who corrupt the integrity of our nation’s legal immigration system by exploiting our country’s generous asylum laws must understand there are serious consequences for those actions,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles. “As a country, we’re committed to providing refuge for those fleeing persecution, but there will be no such protections for people who manipulate this system for profit and put our nation’s security at risk in the process.”