The Global Times and the Los Angeles Times each ran stories late last week in relation to a large fraud case in Los Angeles involving Chinese investors in the EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program. It is nice to see that the victims are beginning to pursue their remedies in court, but disappointing to see that…
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How to Address EB-5 Fraud if You Fall Victim If you suspect that you have become the victim of EB-5 Fraud, it is important for you to know your rights, and to create a strategy for addressing how you have been defrauded. As described earlier, the legal system in the United States is quite different…
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The Importance of U.S. Based Attorneys In the United States, attorneys may work on individual discrete issues for a client, but the best use of an attorney is as a counselor and advocate who understands and has a relationship with the client. Involving a U.S. based attorney early in the process can provide due diligence…
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A Better Way: Walking Alongside the Investor Start to Finish (Continued) This brings the post to the steps that EB-5 investors should take to protect themselves. The current model for immigrant investors is broken. EB-5 immigration lawyers should not be simple petition preparers or form generators. However, this is how they are used by the…
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A Better Way: Walking Alongside the Investor Start to Finish Having reviewed what types of fraud exist within EB-5, what causes the EB-5 Fraud to occur, and what systemic issues enable the fraud, this blog post now turns to a description of steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of falling victim to…
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Proposed Integrity Measures Are Only Partly Helpful: Only Change In How Investors Approach EB-5 Investments Can Alleviate EB-5 Fraud Recently, many anti-fraud and anti-money laundering reforms have been proposed and some implemented. USCIS, for example, has modified its staffing to include financial specialists to better track lawful source of funds, and has engaged more experienced…
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EB-5 Fraud Buttressed by Systemic Problems in the Industry Continued… 5. Unclear Roles and Payment Systems for Intermediaries There are so many individuals involved with the transaction, and compensation is often not disclosed. By way of example, the investor may pay a nominal fee to the migration agent, and by virtue of having paid this…
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EB-5 Fraud Buttressed by Systemic Problems in the Industry Continued… 3. Cultural and Legal System Distinctions The overall system does not present a clear picture to the investor of the value of professionals, and instead has the impact of turning professional services into a commodity. The legal systems are different, and whereas in many other…
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EB-5 Fraud Buttressed by Systemic Problems in the Industry Most industry members are troubled by the few fraud cases that occur, and are dedicated to creating greater industry integrity. The clear majority of industry stakeholders are working ethically and simply working to provide appropriate service to investors, since the investors are the life-blood of each…
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Examples of EB-5 Visa Fraud The Chicago Convention Center The first example is one of the most egregious to date, and one of the most well-known. It is a case in which from the outset, the developer was likely set upon easy money and fraud. More importantly, the fraud could have easily been found and…
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