Steven Wang aka Shui Cheng Wang Sentenced to Prison in Immigration Cases

          SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant STEVEN WANG, aka SHUI CHENG WANG, age 53, from Tamuning, was sentenced today in District Court to a 57-month term of imprisonment for Mail Fraud, Visa Fraud, Money Laundering, and Willful Failure to Pay Over Tax. WANG was also sentenced in a separate case to 57 months of imprisonment for Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud. The District Court ordered the terms to run consecutive. WANG will serve 114 months in federal prison for both cases. The Court also ordered three years of supervised release following imprisonment, in addition to a mandatory $500 assessment fee for both cases. WANG was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $1,622,352.98 to former Hua Sheng workers, $186,312.59 to the Internal Revenue Service, and $96,781 to an individual identified as J.P.W.

          On January 30, 2012, WANG entered a guilty plea to an Indictment that charged Mail Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341; Visa Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a); Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957; and Willful Failure to Pay Over Tax, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7202. WANG, as general manager of Hua Sheng International Group Corporation Limited (Hua Sheng), fraudulently petitioned over 173 H-2B workers. He represented that the workers would earn the Guam prevailing hourly wage for their occupations. WANG, among other things, further caused his office workers to print checks in the name of each Hua Sheng H-2B worker. The checks reflected the amount of legal wages owed and the appropriate deductions for Guam income tax, and Social Security and Medicare withholding. However, WANG never gave these checks to his workers. The investigation revealed that WANG actually paid the workers below prevailing wages, loaned them as labor to other companies, and housed them in deplorable conditions. WANG also falsely represented to Guam Department of Labor that Hua Sheng H-2B workers had departed Guam, when in fact they still remained on island.

          While pending sentencing for the Hua Sheng matter, WANG also entered a guilty plea to a charge of Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1546(a) and 2. WANG worked for Dalian Hongda Baiye Group (USA), Inc., which was used by WANG to facilitate the fraud. WANG attempted to secure an L1 nonimmigrant visa for J.P.W. WANG further accepted approximately $96,781 knowing that J.P.W. had never worked for Dalian Hongda Baiye Group Co. Ltd., in China, all in violation of the L1 nonimmigrant visa requirements.

          Acting U.S. Attorney Anderson stated, “This case demonstrates the importance of combined federal and local enforcement efforts to uphold the integrity of the H-2B visa program. The Hua Sheng workers suffered substantial financial losses as a result of Wang’s conduct. The Court’s sentencing order sends a strong message of accountability that these workers deserve.

          The Guam business community continues to face difficulties in hiring qualified United States workers. The ability of employers to seek temporary relief though the H-2B visa program is diminished by those who engage in dishonest business practices that poison the foreign labor pools on which the program relies. This case further demonstrates the ongoing commitment by the Department of Justice to promote lawfulness in our immigration system.”

          The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division working together with Guam Department of Labor. The case was prosecuted by Stephen F. Leon Guerrero, an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.