by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Federal authorities arrested three Los Angeles-area residents Wednesday for allegedly running a “pay-to-stay” visa scam that enabled foreign nationals to stay in the U.S. by using student visas without actually attending school. The scam netted as much as $6 million a year from tuition fees, reports the Associated Press.
Hee Sun Shim, 51, of Beverly Hills; Hyung Chan Moon, 39; and Eun Young Choi, 35, were arrested on a 21-count indictment, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.
The sham vocational schools apparently tapped into L.A. neighborhoods with a growing Asian immigration population, according to the L.A. Times. Shim operated three schools—Prodee University, Walter Jay M.D. Institute and the American College of Forensic Studies—in Koreatown, and one school, the Likie Fashion and Technology College, in Alhambra. Shim’s employees Moon and Choi allegedly assisted with the schools’ operation and management.
Authorities said students from South Korea, China and other countries would pay up to $1,800 to enroll in one of the schools for six months in exchange for fraudulent papers, such as transcripts and attendance records, that would make the students eligible for an F-1 visa. If a student needed to stay “enrolled” for longer periods of time, Shim would then transfer the student to another school to avoid arousing suspicion.
Federal authorities began their investigation in 2011 after inspectors made an unannounced visit to Prodee’s main campus in Wilshire Boulevard and found only three students in an English-language class, although records showed that the school had more than a thousand students enrolled.
“We had students who were hundreds, thousands of miles away,” said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Los Angeles. “There was absolutely no education going on at the school.”
Authorities said they plan to withdraw each school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.
Shin, Moon and Choi face conspiracy and immigration fraud charges. Shim is also charged with two counts of money laundering and three counts of encouraging illegal residence, according to authorities. All three indicted operators are scheduled to appear in court later today.
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Featured image by Emily Berl/Wall Street Journal
