MCC project manager, 4 others indicted

Two separate indictments were filed yesterday in federal court against the MCC International project manager, Beilida Overseas (CNMI) Ltd. president, and three others in connection with the alleged illegal Chinese workers at Pacific Imperial International CNMI LLC’s ongoing construction of the casino and resort project in Garapan.

The indictment charged MCC International project manager Yuqing Zhao with harboring illegal aliens.

A separate indictment charged Beilida Overseas president Hui Lu and Beilida’s Wencao Guo, Xiufang Qi, and Hongwei Ma with harboring illegal aliens. Lu, Guo, and Ma were charged with two counts of harboring illegal aliens. Qi was charged with only one count of harboring illegal aliens.

The indictments contain notice to forfeit to the U.S. government defendants’ property used in the commission of the offense such as any leasehold for work premises, barracks, employer-provided housing, VIP accommodations, employer-provided tools, computers, office equipment, vehicles, boats, planes, heavy equipment, bank accounts, and cash.

According to the indictment, beginning on Aug. 1, 2016, and continuing until March 31, 2017, Zhao harbored 15 illegal aliens by shielding them from detection for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

The separate indictment alleges that on March 8 through March 22, 2017, defendants Lu, Guo, and Ma harbored an illegal alien,Yuanyou Hu, by shielding him from detection and which resulted in Hu’s death.

Hu, a Chinese national, died reportedly after falling from a scaffold at the construction site of the Imperial Pacific casino and resort project last March 22.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation found out that Hu entered the CNMI as a visa parolee/tourist and therefore was not authorized to work in the Commonwealth.

On Feb. 7 through March 22, 2017, Lu Guo, Qi, and Ma allegedly harbored six illegal aliens by shielding them from detection for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

MCC International is the construction contractor for Imperial Pacific. Beilida Overseas is one of the subcontractors of the project. The Garapan offices of the two companies were searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last March 30.

A criminal complaint charged all five defendants along with MCC electrician Pei Ruan, 28, with unlawful employment of aliens and bringing in and harboring certain aliens. Ruan is the only one not arrested and not included in the indictments.

In his affidavit in support of the criminal complaint against Zhao, FBI special agent Scott Berkland disclosed that during their search of Ruan’s office, they discovered 400 Chinese passports, including 189 passports of Chinese nationals who entered Saipan as visa parolees.

Each of the 189 passports inspected indicated the passport holder had overstayed their parole period.