Chicago Man Sentenced to Two Years in Visa Fraud Scheme (Chicago, IL) – A 60-year-old Chicago man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for running a years-long scheme that provided false employment verifications to foreign nationals seeking to remain in the United States.
Federal prosecutors said Zhao Tai Cui charged F-1 student visa holders fees in exchange for falsely representing that they were employed by his company, which he incorporated in Illinois for the sole purpose of serving as a sham employer. The scheme, which began in 2013 and continued until 2019, allowed at least 250 visa holders to improperly extend their stay in the country.
Cui advertised his fraudulent services on websites and created paperwork to make it appear that students were legally employed. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced Cui to two years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $652,963.
“Cui’s scheme was expansive and involved multiple levels of deception,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Walgamuth wrote in a sentencing memorandum, adding that such crimes undermine public confidence in the immigration system.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago office.
Chicago Man Sentenced to Two Years in Visa Fraud Scheme
