LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and PETER J. SMITH, Special-Agentin-Charge of the New York Office of the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”),
announced today the arrest of JENNIFER ROWE on charges related to
her alleged involvement in a conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
According to the Indictment filed and statements made in
Manhattan federal court:
ROWE conspired with others in 2004 and 2005 to commit a
massive immigration fraud by telling non-immigrant aliens that
they were eligible for amnesty under the Immigration and
Nationality Act of 1986 (the “Amnesty Program”). ROWE and other
co-conspirators convinced non-immigrant aliens to give ROWE and
the conspirators their passports and payments of between $1,000
and $5,000, in exchange for the promise of permanent residency
and eventual citizenship. In reality, these non-immigrant aliens
were not eligible for the Amnesty Program.
ROWE advertised her services in certain immigrant
communities in the New York City area, falsely promising that she
could secure permanent residency for individuals. After
receiving thousands of dollars, passports and other documentation
from non-immigrant aliens, ROWE and her co-conspirators submitted
false Amnesty Program applications to the United States
Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of
many of these individuals. Later, when the applicant appeared
for an interview with immigration authorities, his or her Amnesty
Program application would be denied based upon its obviously
fraudulent nature.
ROWE was arrested on Thursday, September 20, 2007, by
officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and was released
on bail later that day. The case is assigned to United States
Disrict Judge PAUL A. CROTTY. If convicted, ROWE faces a maximum
sentence of ten years imprisonment. The other defendant named in
the Indictment, PAPE SECK, is a fugitive.
Mr. GARCIA praised the efforts of ICE and the
Department of Homeland Security’s New York Citizenship and
Immigration Services Fraud Detection Unit in the investigation of
this case.
Assistant United States Attorney TODD BLANCHE is in
charge of the prosecution.
The charge contained in the Indictment is merely an
accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
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