FOR FURTHERINFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
FEBRUARY 4, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md

BRANDYWINE COUPLE CONVICTED IN IMMIGRATION FRAUD SCHEME

Baltimore , Maryland - Nadia Naeem, age 29, and Mohammad Amin Doudzai, age 45, both of Brandywine , Maryland were convicted today by a federal jury of conspiracy to obstruct, and obstruction of, proceedings before a United States agency, immigration fraud and false statements, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

"Protecting the integrity of the United States immigration system is a key component of our homeland security mission," said James A. Dinkins, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore . "This case clearly demonstrates our resolve to investigate those who seek to criminally exploit our immigration system."

According to trial testimony, documents filed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicate that Nadia Naeem, was born in 1978, in Kabul , Afghanistan . Naeem, along with her mother and two siblings, were admitted into the United States as refugees on July 26, 2000 . An individual admitted into the United States with refugee status, but who has not yet attained Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status, can apply for refugee benefits for her spouse.

Witnesses testified that in 2001, Naeem filed a petition with the INS seeking to have Nabi Nabil, age 30, also born in Kabul , Afghanistan , enter the country as a refugee, based upon the claim that Naeem and Nabil were married in Pakistan in 2000. The petition was approved and Nabil was admitted into the country as a refugee in 2004. Naeem and her parents subsequently applied for and attained LPR status.

According to trial testimony Mohammad Amin Doudzai, was born in 1962 in Kabul , Afghanistan , admitted into the United States as a refugee in 1981, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1988. In 2003, prior to Nabil’s entry into the country, Naeem and Doudzai celebrated their marriage at the Best Western Potomac View in Oxon Hill , Maryland . Naeem, her mother and her two siblings moved into Doudzai’s home in Brandywine , Maryland . When Nabil also moved into the Brandywine home in March of 2004, Naeem was seven months pregnant. She gave birth to a son on May 29, 2004 . According to trial testimony, there is an extremely high probability that Naeem and Doudzai are the biological parents of her son, and that Nabil and Naeem are siblings.

On March 31, 2006 , during an interview with U.S. immigration officials concerning Nabil’s application, Naeem and Nabil presented a letter from a co-worker of Nabil and a letter from Nabil’s landlords in Accokeek , Maryland falsely stating that Nabil and Naeem were husband and wife, and that they had a child together. In fact, witnesses testified that in November 2005, Nabil lived alone and Naeem lived with Doudzai in Brandywine . When questioned about her relationship with Doudzai, Naeem falsely stated that she barely knew Doudzai, was not certain of his first name, and denied that she and Doudzai were married or had a son together.

Doudzai became a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command in 1989, and was granted top secret/sensitive compartmented information security clearance in 2002. On November 2, 2005 , as part of a security re-investigation, Doudzai submitted a security form to the United States Army Test and Evaluation Command. The form required Doudzai to disclose spousal information and the names and citizenship of any foreign national relative or associate with whom he is bound by affection, obligation, or close and continuing contact. The evidence showed that Doudzai falsely described his marital status as “never marriedâ€