Labor voids documents of fraud scheme victim

The CNMI Department of Labor has determined that an alien worker who is a victim of a fraud scheme have no legal basis to remain in the Commonwealth.

Labor Hearing Officer Herbert D. Soll voided any memorandum, permit, and temporary work authorization justifying the presence of respondent Ji Hongyan in the CNMI.

Soll said Ji has no legal basis to be in the Commonwealth, but she may have a grace period in which to complete personal business until Feb. 20, 2006.

After that date, she should be referred to the Division of Immigration for appropriate action, Soll said.

“The findings do not support the allegation that Ji had knowledge of the fraud committed by her agent, therefore she is eligible to be re-employed in the CNMI once she is repatriated,” the hearing officer noted.

Labor records show that Ji was a nonresident worker employed by Global Manufacturing Inc. since 2002. Her last entry permit expired in July 2004.

Before the expiration of that permit, in October 2003, she left her job with Global Manufacturing and paid an agent to secure papers from Labor that would allow her to seek work elsewhere.

In October 2003, Ji presented to Labor a letter, in English, written on a letterhead of the U.S. Department of Labor. The letter advised Commonwealth Labor that Ji had filed a labor complaint with the U.S. Labor Department.

The letter requested that she be allowed to remain in the CNMI until her allegations are investigated and, as suggested in the title of the letter, she be given a memorandum to use in seeking temporary work.

Soll said the unchallenged testimony of investigator Barry Hirshbein established that Ji, in fact, did not file a complaint with U.S. Labor and that the letter was a fraudulent document.

The CNMI Labor, relying on the information contained in the false letter, issued a memorandum legitimizing Ji’s right to seek work and to be employed by any eligible employer.

Ji took advantage of the memorandum and she was employed under a TWA at the time, Soll said.

Soll said Ji claimed that she went to Zhou Ying for help with her employment problem. Zhou is the person responsible for producing the fraudulent letter. Zhou has been convicted of a criminal offense for his part in this and similar transactions. He has since been deported.

Soll said the request that Ji be sanctioned in the form of a permanent disqualification from further employment in the CNMI would not be granted because the facts give rise to a presumption that Ji had no criminal intent and merely relied upon Zhou.

However, Soll said Ji’s presence in the CNMI is without legal justification since she abandoned her employment with Global in 2003. (Ferdie de la Torre)