Immigration lawyer in New York arrested for fraud, identity theft

Preet Bharara announces arrest.

AB Wire

An immigration lawyer in Manhattan, Gnoleba Seri, 49, has been arrested for immigration fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement, according to the Justice Department: “Gnoleba Seri allegedly used his legal knowledge to circumvent the law and forge documents that are critical to obtaining an immigrant visa.  The strength of the United States’ immigration system rests on the integrity of its process, and this office and our law enforcement partners will hold accountable those who undermine that process.”

According to the complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court: between October 2012 and April 2015, Seri, a licensed immigration attorney from Brooklyn, working in New York, New York, and Brooklyn, New York, engaged in a scheme to use personal information contained in legitimate immigration documents for fraudulent purposes.

In his role as an immigration attorney, Seri submitted falsified and forged I-864 Forms (affidavits of support for those seeking immigrant visas) in support of his clients’ applications for immigration visas and for legal permanent resident status. Specifically, Seri received legitimate I-864 Forms, tax information, pay stubs, and W-2 forms from individuals sponsoring his clients, and then fraudulently submitted these documents in applications for other clients.

Seri submitted I-846 Forms that listed individuals as financial sponsors who had never met the people they were purportedly agreeing to sponsor.  Those I-846 Forms included the sponsors’ real names, identifying information, and financial information, as well as forged signatures.  These fraudulent and forged I-864 Forms all listed Seri as the preparer, and many of them were notarized by him.

Seri is charged with one count of visa fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive minimum sentence of two years in prison; and one count of mail fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.