Deliberations start in alleged CW-1 scam case

The jury began deliberations yesterday in federal court in the case of the three defendants in an alleged CW-1 scam case.

The prosecution and defense completed closing arguments shortly before noon. The 12 jurors then started deliberations. At 2pm, they were ordered to continue today, Wednesday, at 8am.

U.S. District Court for the NMI designate Judge John C. Coughenour is presiding.

Assistant attorneys general Eric O’Malley and James Benedetto are prosecuting the case against TBK Auto Cares owner David Trung Quoc Phan and brothers Muksedur Rahman, and Md. Rafiqul Islam.

The three allegedly conspired to lure Bangladeshi nationals to Saipan on offers of non-existent jobs in exchange for money.

O’Malley said the defendants find desperate men in Bangladesh and made promises to them for jobs in America.

He said the five alleged victims testified that they paid cash and not checks in order to get work on Saipan.

He said that TBK Auto Cares’ CNMI tax records show that the company never paid taxes for any of the five.

He said the jury must convict Phan, Rahman, and Md. Rafiqul Islam if they believe that false promises were made to the workers. Other false promises included green cards, $6.05 an hour salaries, one-year contracts

O’Malley said that Rahman had admitted accepting money from the victims and telling Phan to get rid of the Bangladeshi workers.

The five alleged victims were identified as Md. Tazizul Islam, Rafiqul Islam (who is different from Md. Rafiqul Islam), Abu Bakkar Beg, Abbu Alam, and Belayet Hossain.

Phan is also accused of fraud and misuse of visas and permits for applying for a visa and CW-1 renewal permit application for MD. Rafiqul Islam, which Phan allegedly knew was obtained by means of false claim and statement.

Phan also obtained renewals for Md. Rafiqul Islam’s CW-1 permit and nonimmigrant visa by submitting fake payroll stubs showing that Md. Rafiqul Islam recently worked for United Brothers or TBK Auto Cares, O’Malley said.

He said the defendants never intended to hire the recruited workers to work at TBK.

“Hope is not the same as jobs,” O’Malley said.

Defense attorney Bruce Berline, who is counsel for Md. Rafiqul Islam, characterized the five alleged victims as liars and that the evidence presented against his client “came from the mouth of those five lying witnesses.” He said the five have a history of lying and they continue to lie.

He said the U.S. government wants the jury to believe that the five Bangladeshi workers are victims.

“Don’t buy this lemon of a car,” he said, adding that there is no corroborating evidence to support the claims of the five victims.

Berline said the U.S. government, which is prosecuting the case, never set foot in Bangladesh where 80 to 90 percent of the case happened and that there is no evidence that it attempted to get evidence from Bangladesh.

He said it is undisputed that the alleged victims lied to the U.S. Embassy about their work qualifications.

Steven Pixley, who is counsel for Phan, said his client never traveled to Bangladesh, can’t speak Bengali, and never received any money in connection with the recruitment of the five Bangladeshis.

He said these five should not have been here because they submitted false documents about their work.

Pixley echoed Berline, saying the five, who lied to the U.S. Embassy, are not victims.

Instead, he said that Phan is a victim in this case. He said that Phan hired the five with the understanding that they can do their jobs. “He [Phan] was a victim. The evidence will show that,” he said.

At some point, Phan learned about the recruitment fee the workers paid to get here and was surprised, he said. “That’s significant,” Pixley added.

Pixley said that Phan has a big heart and has no motive or intent to commit crime.

He said that Zeaur Rahman Dalu, who has already pleaded guilty, is the center of the case because he received money, yet he testified that he does not know Phan, Pixley said.

Rahman’s lawyer, Robert T. Torres, said the sad truth is that the persons who have brought false claims appear on the side of the government.

“This case is about helping the brothers, and not hurting them,” he said.

Torres said that Dalu was merely setting up Rahman as the fall guy and that no payment went to Rahman and there is no proof that Rahman was soliciting them for anything.

The real motive, he said, is to lie to stay.

Assistant U.S. attorney Benedetto pointed out that the CW-1 applications did not come from the alleged victims but from Phan. He said that Phan agreed to renew the workers’ CW-1 permits to keep them quiet.

He said the U.S. government is cleaning up the mess by going after the people who recruited the five workers by means of fraudulent promises.

“The defense wishes you to decide not based on facts and evidence. They want you to decide based on emotion,” he told the jury.

The case started out with five defendants but two of the defendants have already been acquitted.