U.S. Immigration said Oh held fake graduation ceremonies at his phony school.
A federal judge sentenced a 66-year-old Southern California pastor to one year in jail for charges relating to a fake university he operated to enable foreign students to obtain visas, according to the Orange County Register.
In addition, Samuel Chai Cho Oh was sentenced to an additional year of house arrest. Oh pleaded guilty to 10 counts of visa fraud and two counts of money laundering last January.
He helped several hundred students – from up to 20 different countries but primarily from South Korea – obtain fraudulent student visas until an informant reported the crime to U.S. immigration officials, prompting an investigation, said Mark Speidel, special agent for Homeland Security Investigations.
The Orange County Register reported that Oh charged students $5,000 to $10,000 for college diplomas and another $3,000 to $5,000 for fraudulent visa documents.
Authorities seized the California Union University building valued at $3.8 million, and $418,000 from two of Oh’s bank accounts, all of which is expected to be forfeited to the government. Not all students will be deported but most are in various stages of the removal process.
See the news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Web site.
