Va immigrant visa fraud ringleader sentenced



July 17, 2009 4:25 PM ET

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Belarus man has been sentenced to 7 1/4 years in federal prison for running a multimillion-dollar operation that fraudulently obtained thousands of foreign labor visas for immigrant workers and defrauding the government of $7.4 million in payroll taxes.

Viktar Krus received the sentence Friday. He originally faced a 73-count indictment, but as part of a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy, visa fraud, tax fraud and money laundering. Twenty-two other people also have been convicted in the scheme, which began in 2001.

Prosecutors said the 28-year-old Krus was head of a conspiracy that brought immigrants to work at area hotels and other businesses. According to court documents, the operation in part involved submitting false petitions that brought in more workers than were needed, and workers were hidden in overcrowded stash houses and contracted out to businesses not listed on their visas to make money for Krus and others.


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