Chinese founder of fake US university made US$5.6m in immigration scam

Chinese founder made US$5.6m by charging foreigners for visa-related documents allowing them to stay in the US, federal prosecutors say

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 9:43pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 9:43pm
Associated Press in San Francisco




Susan Su Xiao-ping, founder and president of Tri-Valley University (above) in the San Francisco Bay area, made US$5.6 million by charging hundreds of foreigners for visa-related documents that allowed them to live and work in the US.

A Chinese woman has been jailed for more than 16 years for running a fake US university that served as a front for an immigration scam.

Susan Su Xiao-ping, founder and president of Tri-Valley University in the San Francisco Bay area, made US$5.6 million by charging hundreds of foreigners for visa-related documents that allowed them to live and work in the US.

She used the money to buy commercial real estate, a Mercedes Benz and multiple homes, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

US District Court Judge Jon Tigar sentenced Su, 44, on Friday after she was convicted in March of visa fraud and other charges. She was also ordered to forfeit US$5.6 million and pay more than US$900,000 in restitution to two companies that processed payments from students.

Her lawyer John Jordan said Su had lodged an appeal.

"Student visas are intended to give people from around the world a chance to come to this country to enrich themselves with the vast learning opportunities available here," said Tatum King, acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, San Francisco.

"But in this case, the defendant was interested in a different kind of enrichment, her own."

Most of the students - many of whom were Indian nationals - appeared to know they were taking part in a fraudulent scheme, said Mitchell Rose, a supervisory Homeland Security special agent. They received visa-related documents in exchange for US$2,700 a semester, Rose said.

Many left the country on their own after the school was raided in 2011, while others applied to regain their student status.

Employees testified that the school had no graduation and admission requirements, and Su instructed her staff to fabricate transcripts and other documents.

Tri-Valley described itself as a "Christian higher education institution" that provided higher education in engineering, business and ministry, according to court documents.

Rose said investigators found purported classes were non-existent or had technical problems. Attendance at legitimate online classes was sparse, but the students did obtain high grades.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Fake university was front for migration scam.

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/artic...migration-scam