6 indicted in CW-1 scheme

A businessman and five other persons were indicted in three separate cases in federal court for allegedly defrauding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services over applications for CW-1 non-immigrant visas.

The indictments charged businessman Barrie James Ladd, Hiron Mollah, Faroque Hosen, Servillano Soriano, Halim Khan, and Animul Islam with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The indictments were filed under seal last July 30 and unsealed Thursday and Friday.

According to the indictments, the six defendants conspired to defraud the U.S. “for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions” of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in its evaluation of application for CW-1 non-immigrant visas.

In the case against Ladd and Mollah, the conspiracy allegedly happened between Sept. 1, 2018, and April 16, 2019. In Hosen’s case, the conspiracy allegedly happened between Oct. 1, 2019, and April 24, 2020. In the case against Soriano, Khan, and Islam, the conspiracy allegedly happened between Aug. 1, 2018, and Feb. 11, 2019.

As part of the alleged conspiracy, Misamis Construction Saipan Ltd., which is owned by Ladd, would submit a petition for a CW-1 visa that would falsely and fraudulently represent that a full-time employer-employee relationship exist between Misamis and Mollah when, in fact, no such relationship was allegedly intended, and that the primary purpose of the application was to obtain legal status for Mollah.

It was part of the conspiracy that a Saipan-based company would, in exchange for money, submit a petition for a CW-1 visa that would falsely represent that a full-time employee relationship would exist between that company and Hosen. In fact, the only alleged purpose of the application was to obtain legal status for Hosen.

It was also part of the conspiracy that RES International LLC would, in exchange for money, submit a petition for CW-1 visas that would make it appear that a full-time employer-employee relationship would exist between RES and the beneficiaries—which included Islam. Again, the primary purpose of the application was allegedly to obtain legal status for those beneficiaries.

Colin M. Thompson and Mark B. Hanson were appointed as court-appointed counsel for Ladd and Mollah, respectively. David G. Banes was appointed as counsel for Hosen. Hanson was appointed as counsel for Soriano. Bruce Berline and Robert T. Torres were appointed as counsel for Khan and Islam, respectively.