Charcoal manufacturer gets 6 months in jail for CW fraud

The president and part-owner of a company that manufactures charcoal on Saipan was slapped in federal court Monday with six months of imprisonment for engaging in fraud in the applications for CNMI-Only Transitional Worker program (CW) permits.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona gave defendant Mizanur Khan credit of time served.

Manglona ordered that upon release from imprisonment, Khan will be placed on three years of supervised release.

Immediately upon release from prison, the defendant will be required to report to immigration official for deportation proceedings.

Khan was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $100 in special assessment fee. He was also ordered to pay $800 in restitution to Monir Hossain, who is one of the four victims.

Assistant U.S. attorney Eric O’Malley, counsel for the U.S. government, moved to dismiss five other counts of charges as part of the plea deal. The judge granted the motion.

Manglona allowed Khan to remain on release under the same terms and conditions that was just reinstated by the court.

Khan was ordered to report to the U.S. Marshals Office or U.S. Probation Office when notice is given to report and surrender.

Colin Thompson served as the court-appointed counsel for Khan.

Khan served as president and part-owner of K.C.A. Corp. He signed a plea deal with the U.S. government and pleaded guilty last January to count two of the indictment charging him with fraud and misuse of a visa.

Visa fraud carries a maximum penalty of not more than 10 years of imprisonment and a fine not to exceed $250,000.

According to the factual basis of the plea agreement, in May 2015 and continuing until Nov. 4, 2015 in the District of the NMI and in the Republic of Bangladesh, Khan and unindicted co-conspirators Muksedor Rahman and Karim Dhali told Monir Hossain that in exchange for a fee payable to Muksedor Rahman, he could obtain a work visa in the U.S.

Khan and unindicted co-conspirators Muksedor Rahman and Karim Dhali told Monir Hossain that Khan’s company, K.C.A. Corp. would employ him as a “charcoal maker” for at least one year, at a wage of $6.05 per hour, for at least 40 hours per week.

On June 6, 2015, Khan sent via the U.S. Postal Service, a I-129CW petition on behalf of Monir Hossain to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service in California.

As part of the application package, Khan included a contract of employment for Monir Hossain specifying that he would work for K.C.A. Corp. as an “operation service worker (charcoal processor),” for a period of one year, for at least 40 hours per week, at $6.05 per hour.

Khan, certified under penalty of perjury, that all the information contained in the petitions was true and accurate.

At the time he submitted the I-129CW petitions on behalf of the beneficiary, Khan was not able and did not intend to provide Monir Hossain with a job as described in the contract.

The USCIS, based in part on the false contract, and false attestations of Khan, issued CW-1 worker status for Monir Hossain.

On Aug. 5, 2015, Khan obtained a CW-1 permit on behalf of Monir Hossain knowing it had been unlawfully obtained and procured by means of a false statement and fraud.

Last September, Khan’s co-defendant, Kosuke Tomokiyo, pleaded guilty to count 4 of the indictment charging him with fraud and misuse of visas and permits.

Last March, Tomokiyo, a Japanese national, was sentenced to one year of probation. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

According to court documents, Tomokiyo was the vice president and part owner of K.C.A. Corp.

On Aug. 22, 2016, Khan and Tomokiyo falsely represented to USCIS that Tomokiyo had previously been and was to be employed by K.C.A. as a “sales manager,” and that Tomokiyo had been employed in that capacity since January 2016.