Former CEO Of Local University Pleads Guilty To Submitting False Documents To Department Of Homeland Security

SAN JOSE- Jerry Wang, the Chief Executive Officer of Herguan University in Sunnyvale, California, pleaded guilty today in federal court to submitting false documents to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and Tatum King, acting special agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Jerry Wang, 34 of Santa Clara, was indicted July 24, 2012, on 15 charges arising out of a visa fraud scheme in connection with Herguan University.  The superseding indictment filed October 30, 2014, alleges that, starting in July 2007, Wang and others caused Herguan to submit fraudulent documents to the DHS Student and Visitor Exchange Program (SEVP) in support of a petition to admit foreign students.  Wang was charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; aiding and abetting visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1546; aiding and abetting unauthorized access of a government computer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030(a); use of false documents, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3); and aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A.

Today, Wang pleaded guilty to one false document count, specifically submitting a fraudulent Academic Warning Letter to DHS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3).  In so doing, he admitted participating in the scheme to commit visa fraud, and that the scheme involved more than 100 immigration-related documents known as “Forms I-20.”  Wang further admitted aiding and abetting the unauthorized access of a DHS computer database.

As part of his plea, Wang agreed to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment between three months and two years, as well as to forfeit $700,000, representing fraud proceeds and the value of property used to facilitate his crimes.

Wang’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 14, 2015 at 1:30 p.m. before the Honorable Edward J. Davila, U.S. District Judge, in San Jose.  Any sentence will be imposed by the Court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hartley M. K. West and Maia T. Perez are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Helen Yee, Natachiana Williams, Rosario Calderon, and Trina Khadoo.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) overseen by HSI.  The DBFTF is a multi-agency task force that coordinates investigations related to fraud schemes involving immigration documents and benefits.