Federal prosecutors have accused two cousins, a District lawyer and a World Bank employee from Bangladesh, of operating a wide-ranging plot to fraudulently obtain employment visas for immigrants hoping to live in the United States legally.
Tariqul Islam Khan, a project manager at the World Bank, was indicted earlier this month on charges of money laundering, immigration fraud and conspiracy.
Mohamed Alamgir, a D.C. immigration lawyer who organized the scheme, according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty last April to conspiracy, immigration fraud and money laundering.
According to court documents, Alamgir arranged for immigrants to get work visas for jobs at places the immigrants never intended to work -- and through businesses that never intended to hire them.
The pair charged their immigrant clients tens of thousands of dollars for the service and recruited business owners to help them make the applications look real, according to charging papers.
Prosecutors say the breadth of the scheme was disturbing. Many seemingly legitimate businesses agreed to pretend to want to hire immigrants and attested to that on federal labor applications, according to the prosecutors. In exchange, the businesses received a cut of what Alamgir was charging the immigrants, who either hoped to come to the United States or were already here illegally.
Khan used his credit union account for depositing and withdrawing funds as part of the fraud, according to a grand jury indictment returned last week.
"Alamgir's scheme was extensive, as it involved dozens of area employers, of whom approximately 20 have pleaded guilty, and millions of dollars," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. "The fraudulent aliens were paying anywhere from $10,000 to $35,000 to participate in Alamgir's scheme to obtain real green cards."
As part of his guilty plea, Alamgir, whose law office was at 1010 Vermont Ave. NW, identified more than 250 fraudulent applications that he prepared or caused to be prepared.
Investigators learned much about the scheme from Alamgir's guilty plea, which was sealed, and he cooperated with them for several months, according to court records that recently became public.
But prosecutors last month asked a federal judge to revoke the terms of his release, saying Alamgir had failed to comply with the terms of the agreement. The reasons for the request were not made public. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 25.
Alamgir's attorney, Danny Onorato, said he has not been able to learn why prosecutors think Alamgir violated his agreement. "Mr. Alamgir has always been, and continues to be, available to prosecutors as a cooperator," he said. Khan's attorney could not be reached for comment.
Two others, whom prosecutors called co-conspirators, have also been indicted: Golam Razaul Karim, the owner of Peoples Termite and Pest Control, Shahin Professional Cleaners and Peoples Waterproofing; and Naureen Moin, an employee of Peoples Termite and Pest Control. Both were citizens of Bangladesh who had obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States. They are charged with preparing letters that falsely stated they planned to hire certain immigrants.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan is presiding over the case.
Wainstein said such immigration fraud cases have a new importance since the terrorist attacks on this country.
Alamgir's conduct "compromised the integrity of our nation's labor and immigration process, which in our post-9/11 era could have grave consequences," Wainstein said.
