Two indicted for alleged visa fraud

Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrest two employees of a manpower agency on Saipan last Friday. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Special Agents with Homeland Security Investigations arrested two employees of a manpower agency on Saipan last Friday on charges of visa fraud and conspiracy, based on a warrant issued by the U.S District Court for the NMI.

Alejandro Nario, 65, and Mylene Casupanan, 42, both Filipino citizens, were taken into custody, without incident, for their involvement in a visa fraud scheme.

An HSI investigation found that A&A Enterprise petitioned and submitted false documents for more than 100 foreign nationals using the CW-1 visa program of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The program allows CNMI employers to apply for permission to employ those who are ineligible to work under other nonimmigrant worker categories.

HSI agents also discovered that a significant number of the foreign workers were not given jobs once they arrived in CNMI and were instructed to pay A&A Enterprise for their employment taxes, which were based on fictitious wages.

Nario, the owner and president of a manpower agency called A&A Enterprises, was charged with one count of fraud and misuse of visas and permits for allegedly petitioning CW-1 visas for non-existing employment for foreign nationals, and requiring them to pay taxes.

Casupanan is charged separately with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for allegedly conspiring with Nario in filing CW-1 petitions with USCIS.

The indictment against Nario stated that on or about Jan. 1, 2019, and continuing through or about Feb. 1, 2021, Nario sent out I-129CW petitions on behalf of foreign citizen beneficiaries to the USCIS California Service Center in Laguna Niguel, California.

“The I-129CW petitions included a contract of employment for these foreign citizens specifying the terms, hours, and wages to be paid to them when, in fact, the defendants did not intend to provide employment for these foreign citizens during their visa term in the United States,” the indictment said.

In addition, the indictment also stated that after these foreign citizens were granted a CW-1 visa and entered the United States under false premises, the defendants required the foreign citizens to pay a routine tax of $194 every two weeks to A&A Enterprises.

Nario and his confederates demanded these foreign citizens pay this tax, despite A&A Enterprises’ failure to provide employment as outlined in I-129CW petitions, and if no tax was paid, A&A Enterprises would cancel and not seek to renew the CW-1 visas.

An HIS press statement said that this was an HSI led investigation with significant cooperation from CNMI Department of Public Safety and CNMI Customs Service.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 Special Agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.