Two executives of an immigration services company in California have been accused of inserting false statements into asylum applications and encouraging clients to lie during asylum interviews, prosecutors said.
The two charged their clients at least $5,000, and clients who paid more than $5,000 were considered VIP customers who "received more assistance with their applications," prosecutors said.
Their scheme allegedly lasted from 2013 to 2024, during which the two were listed as "application preparers" for more than 200 asylum applications submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to the indictment.
Jin and Lu allegedly provided their clients with "sample personal statements" describing persecution to use in preparing their own personal statements supporting their asylum claims.
The two defendants then "reviewed and edited their clients' personal statements" and, in doing so, they would include "false and embellished details that they believed would increase the chances that their clients would be granted asylum," the indictment said.
In preparing their clients for asylum interviews with USCIS, Jin and Lu allegedly instructed them to memorize false details in their applications, the indictment said, and held "interview training sessions" to increase the chances of a favorable outcome.
The indictment further alleges that Jin and Lu pressured clients to give them additional pay, or "red envelopes," once their applications were approved.
One Chinese national, known only as "R.W." in the indictment, paid Lu about $5,000 for his service in 2019. According to the indictment, Lu allegedly assisted with the application process, "falsely indicating R.W. had been arrested, threatened, and physically abused by government officials in China for practicing Christianity." R.W. was eventually granted asylum in the United States.
Jin allegedly used the same false information about being a Christian in China to help another Chinese national called "G.Y." in 2015, according to the indictment, but G.Y.'s asylum application has not been granted.
Another Chinese national, known only as "M.C." in the indictment, has been granted U.S. asylum after paying for Jin's service in 2019. According to the indictment, Jin allegedly helped with the asylum application by "falsely indicating M.C. had been physically forced to have an abortion against her will by government officials in China."
Jin and Lu are scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco on Oct. 16.
If convicted, Jin and Lu each face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
The Epoch Times contacted Lu's lawyer for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
"The United States opens its arms to victims of persecution across the globe, and our asylum laws are the vehicle through which we are able to provide that critical safety net," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement at the time.
"Those who orchestrate fraud under the asylum laws, like the defendants in this case, make it more difficult for genuine victims, and we will come down hard on them."