Owners Of South Bay Business Convicted Of Visa Fraud Conspiracy And Related Crimes

SAN JOSE – A federal jury convicted Jennifer Yang and her business partner Daniel Wu of conspiracy to defraud the United States and a number of related crimes in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain immigration benefits through the government’s “EB-5” visa program, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson; U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, San Francisco Field Office Special Agent in Charge Matthew Perlman; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King.  The verdict was handed down today following a five-week trial before the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, U.S. District Judge.

The jury found that Yang, 52, of Palo Alto, and Wu, 56, of Las Vegas, submitted to the government fraudulent documents that claimed applicants were creating new commercial enterprises when, in fact, the documents contained information about fake jobs and bogus investments.  

“The EB-5 program allows qualified foreign investors to become earnest stakeholders in local U.S. economies,” said U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “In this case, the defendants subverted the EB-5 program by submitting fraudulent documents to make it falsely appear that investments were made and jobs were created.  Schemes like this are cynical, sad, and economically destructive.”

“The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is pleased with this successful prosecution. These hard-fought convictions send a clear message that criminals who attempt to exploit the U.S. visa process for illegal profit will be punished,” said SAC Matthew Perlman of the DSS San Francisco Field Office.  “DSS, alongside our federal partners, is committed to rooting-out and prosecuting criminal enterprises involving U.S. travel documents.” 

“Fraudulent schemes like these threaten our National Security and public safety,” said Tatum King, special agent in charge, San Francisco, Homeland Security Investigations. “They also have substantial impacts on the victims of these callous crimes. HSI special agents work diligently to not only protect National Security interests, but also the  victims of fraud.”

Evidence at trial showed that Yang, a lawyer and licensed member of Bar of the District of Columbia, held herself out as a legal specialist for persons interested in applying for EB-5 visa benefits.  Between 2007 and 2016, the defendants filed EB-5 visa petitions for at least seven foreign investors who supplied Yang and Wu with at least four-million dollars for the stated purpose of investment into a commercial enterprise.  Instead of making legitimate investments that created real jobs, the evidence at trial showed that the defendants created and submitted fraudulent records to deceive the government into issuing benefits on the basis of fake employees.  In at least some cases, the information about the bogus employees was created using the personal identifying information of third-parties, without the third-party individuals’ knowledge.  

In addition, the evidence at trial showed that the defendants created documents that misstated the true manner in which the investment monies were used, which in some cases was not for the new enterprises, but instead for the personal benefit of defendants. In this way, evidence at trial demonstrated that the defendants obtained benefits for clients based on jobs and businesses that did not, in fact, exist.  The trial evidence further demonstrated that the defendants used funds fraudulently obtained through the scheme for personal expenditures, such as the purchase of cars, stays in luxury hotels, and to pay college tuition for a family member.  

A federal grand jury indicted Yang and Wu on October 19, 2017, charging both with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit visa fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371; three counts of visa fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a); two counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341; and two counts of aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A.  In addition, Yang was charged with two counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957. The jury convicted both Yang and Wu of the conspiracy count.  The jury also convicted Yang of two counts of visa fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.  The jury convicted Wu of two counts of visa fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.  

Judge Koh ordered each of the defendants released on a $500,000 bond, pending sentencing.  Judge Koh scheduled the defendants’ sentencing hearing for April 29, 2020.

The defendants face maximum statutory penalties for each count of conviction as follows:

However, any sentence will be imposed by the court 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 Patrick Delahunty and John Bostic are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lakisha Holliman, Mimi Lam, Susan Kreider, and Tong Zhang.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fraud Detection and National Security Office.