Attorney Prepared Bogus Immigration Applications

Posted on Thursday, 10 of April , 2008 at 5:41 pm

NEW YORK—An attorney with offices in Brooklyn and Queens who charged illegal immigrant clients thousands of dollars to prepare applications that he claimed would result in work permits, travel authorization and/or legal residence has been convicted of immigration fraud. Raghubir K. Gupta was found guilty following a seven day trial in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts.

From June 2004 through Dec. 31, 2005, Gupta submitted these applications under the L.U.L.A.C. program, a limited immigration amnesty and legalization program that allowed certain illegal immigrants, who, among other things, must have resided in the United States before January 1, 1982, to apply for legal residence.

Gupta, while knowing that his clients had entered the U.S. too late to be eligible for the L.U.L.A.C. amnesty program and that they did not meet other requirements of the program, nevertheless caused his clients to provide false statements on the L.U.L.A.C. applications, including false dates for their entry into the United States.

He then presented these applications to the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, knowing that they contained false statements. He was found guilty of one count of willfully causing the subscription of an immigration document containing a material false statement and presenting an immigration document containing a material false statement.

Gupta, 59, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross pecuniary loss or gain derived from the offense. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Batts on July 14. 4-10-08


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