Federal grand jury indicts alleged brain behind birth tourism scheme

Saturday, September 15, 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Saipan Tribune

A federal grand jury indicted yesterday a man who allegedly devised a scheme using articles he created on the Internet to encourage Chinese nationals to come to Saipan to give birth to U.S. citizen children.

The indictment charged Kuanyi Chen, also known as Pangzi, with five counts of encouraging illegal entry of aliens for financial gain, five counts of harboring aliens for financial gain, and five counts of illegal transportation of aliens for financial gain.

According to the indictment, from February 2012 to August 2012, Chen induced five aliens-Rongqin Gao, Qingqing Wang, Min Gong, Yuze Li, and Shuang Wen-to enter Saipan to give birth here, in exchange for payment.

The defendant allegedly concealed, harbored and shielded the five from authorities' detection.

Federal agents arrested the 39-year-old Chen on Aug. 25 after the U.S. government filed a criminal complaint charging him with one count of harboring illegal aliens, and two counts of enticing the illegal entry of aliens over the same allegations.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Michael D. Lansangan stated in his report that Chen, a Saipan resident and citizen of Taiwan, is involved in the recruitment and facilitation of travel, housing and other services for Chinese citizens who travel to Saipan from China for the purpose of giving birth to U.S. citizen children.

Lansangan said Chen provides services and consultation to Chinese families for a fee, despite having knowledge that these aliens intend to violate their parole and misrepresent their intentions for entering Saipan.

One Old Vet

Saipan Tribune