Thread: PA: Six indicted in massive immigration-fraud scheme

Six indicted in massive immigration-fraud scheme
By Emilie Lounsberry
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

He had a half-million bucks in a safe hidden under a floor at his upscale home in Holland, Bucks County. Two 10-ounce gold bars, too. And in three safe-deposit boxes, about $700,000 more in cash.

Those were some of the proceeds, federal authorities contended today, of a massive immigration-fraud scheme carried out by David Lynn, 33, a businessman who allegedly made $3 million from the scam with help from five other Russian-born co-defendants.

The indictment said that Lynn, who was born in Russia and lived in Israel before coming to the United States, operated a phony asylum business called Lynn International, which he claimed was a translation service.

Lynn pretended to be a lawyer who specialized in immigration cases, the indictment stated, and operated from offices in Northeast Philadelphia and Southampton in Bucks County.

With help from his co-defendants, Lynn prepared at least 380 fraudulent asylum applications, charging would-be immigrants $8,000 to $12,000, the indictment stated. The scheme took place between January 2003 and March 2007, according to the indictment, and Lynn guaranteed his clients that they would get asylum.

But few of them did, Acting U.S. Attorney Laurie Magid said at a news conference today. Those cases are being re-examined, she said, and many other applicants already have left the United States. "Many of them were here illegally," she said.

But the lure of asylum - a coveted grant intended to help immigrants who have faced persecution in their native countries for religious, racial or political beliefs, or for membership in certain organizations - was intense.

"People were strung along," said Magid, who said that some of the dissatisfied clients told immigration authorities what had happened.

Magid said investigators soon uncovered an "enormous" case of asylum fraud. She said Lynn and other defendants coached applicants to lie and say they were being prosecuted for being Baptists, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies or homosexuals.

"Lynn and his co-defendants systematically and repeatedly exploited this provision for their own financial gain," Magid said. "This fraud was about nothing more than money."

The asylum-seekers were mostly from Russia, with others from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri Marinari said Lynn has "no legal status" in the United States. His defense attorney, Ellen C. Brotman, declined to comment today on the case.

Marinari said that if Lynn, who is charged with conspiracy, asylum fraud and moneylaundering, is convicted of all charges, he faced a maximum possible sentence of about eight to 10 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Magid said that a search warrant was executed at Lynn's house in March 2007 and that a safe packed with cash was found, along with two gold bars. Lynn also maintained a Swiss bank account, the indictment stated.

The government is seeking forfeiture of $3 million in the alleged proceeds as well as the cash seized.

The others indicted, all originally from Russia, are Lynn's father-in-law, Yevgeny Zemlyansky, 61, of Feasterville, Bucks County; Nelly Katsman, 41, of Holland, Bucks County; and Ilya Zherelyev, 46, Anatoly Zagrinichny, 62, and Akbar Kadirov, 54, all of Northeast Philadelphia.

Zemlyansky was Lynn's full-time assistant, instructing clients to conceal the fact that Lynn and others had coached them to give false testimony at immigration hearings, the indictment stated.

Zemlyansky also was charged with a separate count for allegedly submitting housing-subsidy applications that concealed his income from the fraudulent immigration business.

Zagrinichny coached applicants how to lie about being persecuted, the indictment said, and Zherelyev was a bodyguard for Lynn and also prepared false applications. Kadirov was a driver and collected fees from applicants, and Katsman prepared applications, the indictment said.

Zemlyansky and Kadirov appeared in court briefly today; defense attorneys Anna Durbin, who represents Zemlyansky, and Jeffrey Miller, who represents Kadirov, declined to comment on the case.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20080 ... cheme.html

This poor guy, Mr. David Lynn is just pursuing the American Dream: get as rich as you can, no matter how, before the law catches up.