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Woman is found guilty of defrauding USCIS
Servillana Soriana walks out of the U.S District Court for the NMI yesterday soon after being found guilty of one count conspiracy to defraud the United States. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)
A 13-person jury unanimously found guilty yesterday afternoon a woman charged with defrauding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The jury trial for Servillana Soriano, who was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for her alleged involvement in a CW-1 petition scheme back in 2019, concluded yesterday with the guilty finding.
U.S District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, following the reading of the verdict, ordered Soriano to return to court on Nov. 12 at 9am to be sentenced.
Soriano’s co-conspirators—Aminul Islam, Halim Khan, and Faroque Hose—were also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Islam and Hosen have already pleaded guilty.
Back on Feb. 16, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona sentenced Islam to one-week imprisonment, one year of supervised release, and 25 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $100 assessment fee.
Hosen’s sentencing is scheduled for July 23, 2021, at 1:30pm.
As for Halim Khan, his jury trial will start on Aug. 29, 2021.
According to indictment, Soriano and her co-conspirators agreed to defraud the United States by deceitful and dishonest means for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of USCIS in the fair and objective evaluation of CW-1 non-immigrant visa applications.
The indictment stated that RES International LLC would submit a CW-1 petition on behalf of a foreign worker, in exchange for money, while falsely and fraudulently representing that an employer-employee relationship exists between RES and the beneficiaries.
The primary purpose of the application was allegedly to obtain legal status for those beneficiaries.
