One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
Visa fraud scheme used cemetery plots to launder money
Federal agencies have exposed a visa fraud scheme that involved a West Covina law firm and money laundering through the purchase of cemetery plots. The law firm is no more and its president has been sentenced to 10 months in prison.
(
Susan Valot/KPCC
)
An unusual employment visa fraud scheme used cemetery plot purchases to launder money. It's landed the president of a now-defunct Southland law firm behind bars. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Thursday that Joseph Wai-Man Wu, 53, will serve a 10-month prison term for his role in the scheme. His associate, attorney Kelly Einstein Darwin Giles, 49, awaits sentencing in January.
Wu - whom ICE described as former president of the East West Law Group of West Covina -pleaded guilty in August of last year to one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud, one count of money laundering, and one count of obstruction of justice. Authorities arrested him and two others, including Giles, the firm's owner, and Wu's wife, May Yim-man Wu, three years ago. They were part of what ICE called in a news release "a lengthy employment visa fraud scheme where the illicit profits were used to purchase several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of vacant cemetery plots and grave monuments." From the ICE release:
In pleading guilty, Wu admitted that, from approximately 1996 to 2009, he and other members of the law practice set up nearly a dozen shell companies in order to file at least 137 fraudulent employment-based visa petitions for nearly 100 alien clients. In return for filing those fraudulent petitions, the clients paid Wu and his co-conspirators anywhere from $6,000 to $50,000. Many of the petitions were for H-1B visas, which the government reserves for foreign workers with specialized skills, such as accountants and information technology professionals.
The arrests followed a two-and-a-half-year investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
