4 victims in US visa fraud case sue

LOS ANGELES — Four Chinese victims in a $50 million visa fraud case filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said.

The filing shows as many as 100 Chinese citizens were defrauded, leading to a federal investigation and three arrests, followed by the lawsuit.

Federal authorities raided a business called California Investment Immigration Fund in San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles County, on April 6.

The business sought over $50 million in total from 100 Chinese investors and claimed to help them obtain permanent US residency through an EB-5 program, through which each foreigner invests at least $500,000 in a US business that creates jobs for US workers.

Four of the victims said they signed the contract in 2011. However, those projects were not built and they never got their permanent residency as promised.

“Most of the investors heard about these EB-5 projects through agencies in China. But most did not really know about details of the projects, aside from pretty-looking presentations,” attorney Jing Wang said.

“As far as I know from my clients, they did not even know who was their project attorney nor what legal files they had signed.”

Wang also said most of the investors did not understand the legal process of EB-5 and misunderstood many issues. They trusted their agency too much and did not seek more information.

Faced with the expiration of their temporary status in November, each of the four victims asked for a full refund of their investment along with other compensation.