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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    22 charged in Visa fraud scheme

    I.C.E. News Release
    January 13, 2009

    22 charged with massive international Visa scheme


    Washington, D.C. - A 74-count indictment, which charged 22 foreign nationals and U.S. citizens for massive immigration-related fraud, resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its partner agencies.

    According to the indictment, since March 2001, the defendants and co-conspirators carried out a conspiracy involving visa and asylum fraud, marriage fraud, making fraudulent statements under oath, and filing fraudulent documents to obtain foreign labor visas for hundreds of alien employees. Some visa petitions were submitted seeking to bring in substantially more alien workers than what client hotels or businesses had contracted for or needed, and that most of the alien workers brought in through the fraudulent scheme were contracted out to hotels or businesses other than those listed on their visa and were working in states other than Virginia.

    "Today's charges reflect the law enforcement community's steadfast commitment to aggressively target the perpetrators of document and benefit fraud," said Mark McGraw, Acting Special Agent in Charge for ICE's Office of Investigations in Washington, D.C. "Schemes such as these pose a significant threat to the United States and its citizens and cannot go unchallenged."

    As cited in the indictment, the aliens were encouraged or induced to enter or reside in the United States, and transported and shielded from detection for commercial advantage and private financial gain.

    Today's announcement is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. State Department-Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the U.S. Department of Labor; the Internal Revenue Service; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Norfolk Field Office; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and the Virginia Beach Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph DePadilla and Stephen Haynie are prosecuting the cases for the United States.

    The individuals charged are: Piotr Baravik, age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Charles Bond, age 37, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in the United States; Sheryl Brown, age 37, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Jamaica; Ryan Bulkley, age 24, of Richmond, Virginia, born in the United States; Jekaterina Cerednicenko, a/k/a "Katrina Bond," age 27 of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Latvia; Viktorija Cudnovska, a/k/a "Victoria Webb," age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Latvia; Maryia Halushkina, age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Vahe Harutyunyan, age 34, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Armenia; Dzmitry Krasautsau, age 28, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Viktar Krus, age 28, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Katsiaryna Kukharchuk, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Polina Kulesh, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Kazakhstan; Otis Martin age 48, of Suffolk, Virginia, born in the United States; Jana Mizakova, age 25, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Slovakia; Anastassiya Nagibina, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Kazakhstan; Inna Palkova, age 22, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Russia; Patricia Pochtaruk, age 53, of Cape Coral, Florida, born in the United States; Ksenia Stekolstsikova, age 29, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Estonia; Janos Tamas, age 30, of St. Augustine, Florida, born in Hungary; Gabor Teglasi, age 38, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Hungary; Ivan Ukolov, age 25, of Saint Charles, Illinois, born in Russia; and Dana Whitney, age 36, of Fort Meyers, Florida, born in the United States.

    The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    Benefit fraud is the knowing and willful misrepresentation of material fact on a petition or application to gain an immigrant benefit, while document fraud is the manufacturing, counterfeiting, alternation, sale, and/or use of identity documents and other fraudulent documents to circumvent immigration laws or for other criminal activity.

    Document fraud is a serious problem and is a common element of many different crimes. Individuals and criminal enterprises often use fraudulent documents to obtain drivers' licenses and Social Security cards. Traffickers and alien smugglers use these documents to facilitate movement into and within the United States and they are also used to shield illegal aliens from detection within our society. Fraudulent documents may be used to obtain financial benefits and entitlements intended for US citizens or lawful permanent residents and to obtain unauthorized employment.

    -- ICE --

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

    Last Modified: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security

    http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0901/090113dc.htm
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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    For those born in the US, it is nothing but greed. But it is very interesting that the foreign-born all seem to come from countries of the former Soviet Union.
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    DJ
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    So will they all be deported if convicted of fraud? Surely the court and ICE would not allow them to stay in the country after they serve whatever term is pronounced.

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ
    So will they all be deported if convicted of fraud? Surely the court and ICE would not allow them to stay in the country after they serve whatever term is pronounced.
    The ones born in the U.S. can't be deported because international law does not allow any country to deport it's own citizens. In Order to deport naturalized citizens you must prove that they used fraud or lies to get their citizenship and then you must resend their citizenship and then you can deport them to the country that they were a citizen of prior to that.
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  5. #5
    DJ
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    The ones born in the U.S. can't be deported because international law does not allow any country to deport it's own citizens. In Order to deport naturalized citizens you must prove that they used fraud or lies to get their citizenship and then you must resend their citizenship and then you can deport them to the country that they were a citizen of prior to that.
    Good grief! We do to a lot of work to protect scoundrels, don't we?? Look how hard we have to work to get rid of crooks like this.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Captainron's Avatar
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    DJ you're right. People like this will deplete our law enforcement funds FAST! I try to make a talking point of the fact that our lack of immigration enforcement in the past decade hasn't stemmed merely from policy decisions---- but also from a lack of funding. It takes the government awhile, it seems, to wake up to a problem and then decide to commit funds to it. The flood of illegals unfortunately caught many people off guard and unprepared---plus they have their little army of advocates working from within. So people should not get the impression that the US was tacitly endorsing or condoning something.

    What do Pelosi and Kennedy want to accomplish in the US? It is looking to me more like a Roman Catholic theocracy where we all embrace their political values: welfare for the world.
    "Men of low degree are vanity, Men of high degree are a lie. " David
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  7. #7
    DJ
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    On the other hand, I went to the local mall today in Southern Califonria, and I didn't see ANY Latina teenagers pushing that stroller with another small child and one in the oven (walking with her gang-banging looking boyfriend!) as I've seen in the past. Maybe a sizable number of the illegals really are leaving California because of high unemployment etc. (it's about 10% in LA). In contrast, for the first time, I saw a number of Asian couples shopping. I heard next to NO constant chatter in Spanish as I walked around either.

    The mall is where those single mothers with children and boyfriends walk around to socialize. That's been the norm for several years. Not today! I came home smiling for a change!

  8. #8
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    bttt
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    Moving this into the Mod area off the visible site until we can file a counter DMARC claim against the false claim filed against this post for copyright infringement.
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  10. #10
    Administrator ALIPAC's Avatar
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    DMCA Counter Notification:

    Request to Restore Access to Posted Material



    I hereby request that Digital Ocean allow us to restore access to the following material:


    "22 charged in Visa fraud scheme I.C.E. News Release
    January 13, 2009

    22 charged with massive international Visa scheme


    Washington, D.C. - A 74-count indictment, which charged 22 foreign nationals and U.S. citizens for massive immigration-related fraud, resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its partner agencies.

    According to the indictment, since March 2001, the defendants and co-conspirators carried out a conspiracy involving visa and asylum fraud, marriage fraud, making fraudulent statements under oath, and filing fraudulent documents to obtain foreign labor visas for hundreds of alien employees. Some visa petitions were submitted seeking to bring in substantially more alien workers than what client hotels or businesses had contracted for or needed, and that most of the alien workers brought in through the fraudulent scheme were contracted out to hotels or businesses other than those listed on their visa and were working in states other than Virginia.

    "Today's charges reflect the law enforcement community's steadfast commitment to aggressively target the perpetrators of document and benefit fraud," said Mark McGraw, Acting Special Agent in Charge for ICE's Office of Investigations in Washington, D.C. "Schemes such as these pose a significant threat to the United States and its citizens and cannot go unchallenged."

    As cited in the indictment, the aliens were encouraged or induced to enter or reside in the United States, and transported and shielded from detection for commercial advantage and private financial gain.

    Today's announcement is a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. State Department-Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the U.S. Department of Labor; the Internal Revenue Service; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Norfolk Field Office; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and the Virginia Beach Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Joseph DePadilla and Stephen Haynie are prosecuting the cases for the United States.

    The individuals charged are: Piotr Baravik, age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Charles Bond, age 37, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in the United States; Sheryl Brown, age 37, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Jamaica; Ryan Bulkley, age 24, of Richmond, Virginia, born in the United States; Jekaterina Cerednicenko, a/k/a "Katrina Bond," age 27 of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Latvia; Viktorija Cudnovska, a/k/a "Victoria Webb," age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Latvia; Maryia Halushkina, age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Vahe Harutyunyan, age 34, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Armenia; Dzmitry Krasautsau, age 28, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Viktar Krus, age 28, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Katsiaryna Kukharchuk, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Belarus; Polina Kulesh, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Kazakhstan; Otis Martin age 48, of Suffolk, Virginia, born in the United States; Jana Mizakova, age 25, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Slovakia; Anastassiya Nagibina, age 23, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Kazakhstan; Inna Palkova, age 22, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Russia; Patricia Pochtaruk, age 53, of Cape Coral, Florida, born in the United States; Ksenia Stekolstsikova, age 29, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Estonia; Janos Tamas, age 30, of St. Augustine, Florida, born in Hungary; Gabor Teglasi, age 38, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Hungary; Ivan Ukolov, age 25, of Saint Charles, Illinois, born in Russia; and Dana Whitney, age 36, of Fort Meyers, Florida, born in the United States.

    The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    Benefit fraud is the knowing and willful misrepresentation of material fact on a petition or application to gain an immigrant benefit, while document fraud is the manufacturing, counterfeiting, alternation, sale, and/or use of identity documents and other fraudulent documents to circumvent immigration laws or for other criminal activity.

    Document fraud is a serious problem and is a common element of many different crimes. Individuals and criminal enterprises often use fraudulent documents to obtain drivers' licenses and Social Security cards. Traffickers and alien smugglers use these documents to facilitate movement into and within the United States and they are also used to shield illegal aliens from detection within our society. Fraudulent documents may be used to obtain financial benefits and entitlements intended for US citizens or lawful permanent residents and to obtain unauthorized employment.

    -- ICE --

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

    Last Modified: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security

    http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0901/090113dc.htm
    "


    ,
    which was posted at


    https://www.alipac.us/f12/22-charged...scheme-135246/


    .
    Under penalty of perjury, I have a good faith belief that this material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification because the material was written and released by the United States Government department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as is clearly stated on the documented the source is U.S. Department of Homeland Security which does not file copyright or DMCA takedown notices on publicly released materials. We also provide a link to the original source for the material on the US Government website ice.gov managed by the source U.S. Department of Homeland Security although they no longer maintain a copy at the source link.

    This public access information has been posted and accessible on our main website ALIPAC.us since 01-13-2009, 06:53 PM without any problems or complaints and copies of these materials are archived into the US Library of Congress.

    This information does not belong to anyone named "Ryan M. Williams <williamsryanm34@gmail.com>" as the false Legal Copyright Infringement & DMCA Violations Notice claims.

    In fact, just prior to this false DMCA takedown, we have received three prior emails about this post from someone representing themselves by email as Viktorija Cudnovska <cudnovskavik56@gmail.com> on April 4, 6, and 21 to my email account at WilliamG@alipac.us asking us to...



    "Hi William,
    Greetings for the day. I hope you all are doing well.
    I am Viktorija and want to request to the old and outdated news coverage needs to be removed from the website and Google search results i.e.:

    https://www.alipac.us/f12/22-charged...scheme-135246/



    I would like to inform you that the article reference link which is in your website has already been removed. Kindly find the screenshot given below:-


    http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0901/090113dc.htm



    I request you delete the defamatory information from the website and Google search result on an immediate basis.

    If you want further details, you can ask me.

    So Kindly take action against the above-mentioned links at your earliest convenience.

    Looking forward from your side.

    Regards,

    Viktorija Cudnovska"

    As you can see, the name "Viktorija Cudnovska, a/k/a "Victoria Webb," age 27, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, born in Latvia" appears in the official governmental public domain press release we archive on our site as a person who was charged.


    The link the DMCA abuse complaint lists as the original source of this release is incorrect and is to the only copy at...

    https://www.tumblr.com/visascheme/71...a-fraud-scheme



    Tumblr is an open source microblogging and social media website where anyone can post anything. It is not the source nor the owner of our posting "22 charged in Visa fraud scheme I.C.E. News Release"

    We believe that your team can examine and determine this is a case of intentional misidentification by a party that is abusing the DMCA Takedown system to try to remove public records of their past federal charges. The party filing the DMCA claim may have violated federal law by impersonating federal law enforcement agencies and employees.

    I may be contacted at William Gheen, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, PO Box 30966, Raleigh, NC 27622, (919) 787-6009, williamg@alipac.us

    and
    I hereby consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which I reside, and will accept
    service of process from the person who submitted the takedown notification under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(1)(C), or their agent.

    Please inform the party that filed this false DMCA claim against our organization and website that we intend to retain legal counsel and pursue them to the fullest extent of US law for this harassment and disruption of our site and services.

    William Gheen
    Americans for Legal Immigration PAC,
    PO Box 30966, Raleigh, NC 27622,
    (919) 787-6009, williamg@alipac.us

    FEC ID: C00405878
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