SANTA ANA, California – An attorney who lives in El Monte pleaded guilty November 27 to federal fraud and money laundering charges for participating in a multi-faceted scheme that collected more than $50 million from foreign investors seeking “Green Cards” through the EB-5 visa program.
Victoria Chan [陳莹莹], who along with her father operated a San Gabriel-based business called California Investment Immigration Fund, LLC (CIIF), admitted that she exploited the EB-5 visa program, which provides lawful permanent residence – commonly known as a “Green Card” – to foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 in a domestic business that creates 10 new American jobs.
Chan admitted that much of the money collected by CIIF from the primarily Chinese investors either was stolen by the conspirators or was refunded to the foreign nationals. This undermined one of the basic principles of the EB-5 program because the money was not actually invested in the United States, nor did it lead to the creation of 10 new American full-time jobs, as required under the program.
Chan admitted submitting about 130 fraudulent EB-5 visa applications to federal immigration authorities, and many of those applications falsely claimed that the foreign investments were being used to fund construction projects that were creating new jobs.
As part of the wire fraud conspiracy, Chan admitted that she fraudulently used hundreds of thousands of dollars in EB-5 investor funds to purchase homes in her name, including residential properties each worth nearly $1 million in Diamond Bar and Rancho Cucamonga.
Chan, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and international money laundering. Chan pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on July 9, 2018.
In relation to this case, Chan, along with other people and entities related to her, agreed to forfeit to the government eight properties worth nearly $25 million that federal prosecutors linked to the fraudulent scheme. A ninth property named in an asset forfeiture complaint related to the scheme, a parcel in Rancho Cucamonga, is expected to be forfeited in the coming weeks.
Chan pleaded guilty to charges contained in a criminal information filed earlier this month. According to the information and a related plea agreement, Chan played a key role in the scheme by submitting fraudulent visa applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and refunding the purported investments by wire transferring millions of dollars to Chinese nationals.
Members of the conspiracy convinced more than 100 Chinese nationals to invest over $50 million in CIIF and related companies, according to court documents. Some of the foreign nationals were on China’s “100 Most Wanted List” after being charged with crimes such as bribery.
The scheme related to CIIF started in 2008 in Garden Grove and was later relocated to San Gabriel. The operation was shut down in April when federal authorities executed a series of search warrants on CIIF’s office and Chan’s residence.
As a result of the today’s guilty pleas, Chan faces a statutory maximum sentence of 45 years in federal prison.
