9th Circuit affirms ruling that 99 aliens were victims of fraud

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the federal’s court ruling that 99 aliens were victims of fraud by Mariano K. Pangelinan, a job placement agency owner who was slapped with a six-month prison term in 2014 for conspiring with two of his then-employees in filing petitions for CNMI-Only Transitional Worker Permits (CW-1) for some aliens that fraudulently named the company as the workers’ employer.

To qualify as a victim, a person must be “directly and approximately harmed” by the defendant’s conduct, according to the Ninth Circuit order on Tuesday signed by Chief Judge Sidney Runyan Thomas and Circuit Judges Consuelo Maria Callahan and Mary H. Murguia.

The Circuit judges said the record sufficiently establishes that the applicants were directly and proximately harmed by, and thus “victims” of Pangelinan’s deception.

The Circuit judges determined that U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona did not err in relying on circumstantial evidence to estimate the victim’s actual losses.

The Circuit judges said the record supports, and they affirm, Judge Manglona’s restitution order with respect to all but two victims who, as the U.S. government concedes and the record demonstrates, suffered actual losses of less than $810 per victim.

Manglona found that six victims suffered losses exceeding the $810 fee charged by Pangelinan. As to the remaining victims, Manglona estimated, based on interviews conducted of 22 victims and Panglinan’s own statements to the immigration authorities, that each victim lost $810.

The Circuit judges, however, found that the district court clearly erred in overestimating the losses of two victims.

Accordingly, the Circuit judges vacated Manglona’s restitution order and remanded to the district court for the limited purpose of modifying the order to reflect the smaller losses suffered by the two victims whose losses were overestimated.

In May 2014, Manglona sentenced then-71-year-old Pangelinan to six months imprisonment plus one-year of supervised release after completing the prison term, and other conditions.

The judge waived imposing the fine based on defendant’s inability to pay. Manglona later conducted a restitution hearing.

The indictment charged Pangelinan, Rosabella P. Cruz, and Helen N. Aparente with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to defraud the U.S.

In addition, Pangelinan was charged with 17 counts of visa fraud, Cruz with 13 counts of visa fraud and one count of false statement, and Aparente with four counts of visa fraud.

Cruz pleaded guilty and was slapped with eight-month home confinement sentence. Aparente fled the CNMI.

In December 2013, Pangelinan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to defraud the U.S. He was subsequently sentenced to six months imprisonment.

Pangelinan appealed to the Ninth Circuit, requesting to reverse the restitution order. He claimed that Judge Manglona erred in ordering him to pay restitution to 99 work visa applicants deemed to have been victims of his fraudulent acts.

In affirming in part and vacating in part, the Circuit judges said the record shows that, for a fee of $810, Pangelinan filed work visa applications with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of 99 aliens whom he purported to employ.

The Circuit judges said to create the appearance that the employment relationship was legitimate, he required applicants to sign illusory employment contracts with the business entity he owned and charged applicants sums for employment taxes even though they did not perform work for the company or earn wages from it.

Pangelinan reassured them that their compliance was essential to the application process.

The Circuit judges cited that the record shows that during the conspiracy, Pangelinan admitted to an immigration service agent that he did not employ any of the applicants he assisted, and disregarded the warning he received from the agent that his conduct was illegal.

Based on this evidence, the judges said, they reject Pangelinan’s contention that the applicants were participants in his scheme.