The US Department of Justice recently announced that two Chinese operators of an immigration services company based in Newark, California, have been charged by US law enforcement authorities for assisting their clients in submitting false asylum applications and instructing clients to lie during asylum interviews.
According to a press release issued by the US Department of Justice last Friday (October 11th), the two defendants – Dongquan “Derek” Jin and Yimin “Kelly” Lu – co-operated in running Gospel Immigration Service, Inc. The company claimed to assist individuals in applying for immigration and welfare, including political asylum.
According to the indictment filed on August 20 and made public on September 19, the two defendants acted as preparers of application materials for more than two hundred asylum applications submitted to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) between 2013 and 2024.
The indictment alleges that they provided clients with sample personal statements describing persecution for use in asylum applications. The defendants reviewed and edited clients’ personal statements, adding embellishments and false information they believed would improve clients’ chances of obtaining asylum.
Prior to clients’ asylum interviews with USCIS, Jin and Lu would instruct clients to memorize false details from the application and assist clients in interview training to increase the chances of approval.
The indictment also accuses the two individuals of demanding high returns as compensation for assisting clients. Jin and Lu provided services to clients and charged at least $5,000 in fees. Once clients’ applications were approved, they also coerced clients to pay additional bonuses or “red envelopes.”
The two defendants are charged with violating US immigration laws and immigration fraud. They are scheduled to appear in federal court on Wednesday (October 16) for a hearing before Magistrate Judge Charles R. Breyer. If convicted, each could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation of this case was led by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of the Treasury and the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), supervised by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The DBFTF, a multi-agency task force under the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is responsible for coordinating investigations of welfare and immigration document fraud cases.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Fraud Detection and National Security Office (OFNS) provided significant assistance in the investigation.