tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36868584274162455932023-11-15T07:23:46.871-08:00EB-5 Immigrant Investor ProgramDiscusses news and offers opinions about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program in the United States.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-45087477978260356522018-01-22T23:46:00.003-08:002018-01-22T23:46:56.005-08:00Proposal would reform and re-write the EB-5 ProgramSee:<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">https://tinyurl.com/ydyu7bva</b>EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-26343509841253135102018-01-19T18:02:00.002-08:002018-01-19T18:02:28.246-08:00If a federal government shutdown comes ...The regional center aspect of the EB-5 Program is not yet permanent. It is the oldest "pilot" program in federal government.<br />
Here is what I think U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will do if a federal government shutdown becomes a reality.<br />
USCIS will suspend processing of I-526 petitions for EB-5 projects affiliated with a regional center. It will commence processing if Congress extends government operations with a new continuing resolution.<br />
In past interruptions in investor immigrant visa petition processing, USCIS has continued to process I-829 petitions already filed.<br />
Let us hope that Congress continues to re-authorize the regional center aspect of the EB-5 Program, which is responsible for the creation of most of the good jobs for American workers.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-92129045697290590972017-11-01T19:21:00.002-07:002017-11-01T19:21:37.102-07:00USCIS publishes EB-5 petition processing timesAnd it's not a pretty picture. Processing times were published on October 31, 2017.<br />
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I-526 petitions are taking almost a bit less than two years to adjudicate.<br />
<br />
I-829 petitions are taking two years and five months to adjudicate.<br />
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New regional center applications are taking exactly two years to process.<br />
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A former USCIS ombudsman once told me that it doesn't matter how high USCIS raises fees and hire more employees. Processing times just get longer and longer. And, in my experience, that is absolutely true.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-77944487047378220362017-09-13T12:40:00.001-07:002017-09-13T12:40:32.803-07:00Regional Center aspect of EB-5 Program extended to Dec. 8When H.R. 601 was signed into law, a provision in the bill reauthorized the regional center aspect of the EB-5 Program to Dec. 8. The new law, which contained an appropriation for Hurricane Harvey relief for the east coast of Texas, including Houston, also contained a provision to keep the government running. Called a continuing resolution, the law enables the government to keep operating without a budget.<br />
There is work being done in Congress on comprehensive immigration reform, which may affect a variety of visa programs, including EB-5. Fact is, the regional center aspect of the EB-5 Program is the longest-running "pilot program" in federal government history. Continual "reauthorization" leaves a cloud of uncertainty over this visa program, which should not be allowed to continue.<br />
Because of an increasing number of examples of fraud in the EB-5 Program, there is a move afoot in Congress to terminate the EB-5 Program. Some members of Congress believe that the EB-5 Program is not accomplishing the goals intended, including economic development in rural areas and areas of high unemploment in the United States. I believe that Congress may reform the EB-5 Program, but I do not think Congress will terminate it.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-25155340770838191962017-07-11T09:30:00.002-07:002017-07-11T09:30:56.306-07:00Republican senators want to roll back Obama proposal to increase investment amountsSee<br />
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https://therealdeal.com/?p=2132990EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-61757727335130310032017-07-11T09:08:00.002-07:002017-07-11T09:35:37.103-07:00This feels differentSince I became involved in the EB-5 Program in 2006, the regional center part of the program has been extended five or six times. This makes the regional center program the oldest pilot program in federal government, despite the fact that USCIS removed the word "pilot" from the name of the program. That agency cannot create a new reality for the regional center program.<br />
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Most extensions were for three years, but that has changed. Most recently, Congress extended it (through a continuing budget resolution) from December 2016 to April 28, 2017. Then it was extended to September 30. I want to inform you that I think this time is different.<br />
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There is Sens. Grassley and Feinstein's bill to termiate the EB-5 Program altogether. There are increasing numbers of SEC fraud cases. There are more members of Congress who believe that the federal government is engaged in "selling citizenship", ignoring the program's stated goal of creating U.S. worker jobs.<br />
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So this time it feels different. I don't want anyone to panic, but I do think I will devote extra effort to close the open EB-5 projects in my regional center before September 30.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-48489610589951250172017-05-23T15:56:00.000-07:002017-05-23T15:56:10.711-07:00USCIS releases EB-5 visa case processing times reportDated March 31, 2017, USCIS released processing times for EB-5 visa related petitions today (May 23). The news is bleak and reflects slower processing even as the agency hires new employees and trains them. The Immigrant Investor Program Office has provided no comment on the slow pace of EB-5 petition processing. The report is below:<br />
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I-526 petitions for alien entrepreneurs are being processed as of Sept. 20, 2015<br />
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I-829 petitions for alien entrepreneurs to remove conditions are being processed as of Oct. 12, 2014<br />
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I-924 applications for regional center designation are being processed as of Sept. 16, 2015<br />
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I was once told by a former employee of the Ombudsman's Office at the Department of Homeland Security that visa case processing (no matter which visa program one specifies) slows as more employees are hired and trained for that visa program. That sounds counter-intuitive, but it is true.<br />
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EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-56997276249609405592017-04-12T11:04:00.000-07:002017-04-12T11:04:54.622-07:00Chicago Convention Center scammer sentenced to 3 years in prison See<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">http://tinyurl.com/k9p26e3</b>EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-21177684171342042092017-03-21T13:47:00.002-07:002017-03-21T13:47:29.489-07:00USCIS Message: EB-5 Regional Center Compliance AuditsDear Stakeholder,<br />
<br />
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces the
launch of an EB-5 Regional Center Compliance Audit Program. Regional
center compliance audits are an additional way to enhance program
integrity and verify information in regional center applications and
annual certifications. These audits will verify compliance with
applicable laws and authorities to ensure continued eligibility for the
regional center designation.<br />
For example, the audit team:<br />
<ul>
<li>Reviews applications, certifications, associated records, and information on the regional center;</li>
<li>Verifies supporting documents, submitted with the application(s) and in the annual certification(s);</li>
<li>Conducts site inspections; and</li>
<li>Interviews personnel to confirm the information provided with the application(s) and annual certification(s).</li>
</ul>
You can read additional details on the program on our <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/eb-5-regional-center-compliance-audits">Regional Center Compliance Audit</a> page. Read more about the EB-5 program online at <a href="http://uscis.gov/EB-5">uscis.gov/EB-5</a>.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
USCIS Public EngagementEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-8819668972007575492017-03-21T13:46:00.002-07:002017-03-21T13:46:43.302-07:00USCIS Message: EB-5 Regional Center Compliance AuditsDear Stakeholder,<br />
<br />
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announces the
launch of an EB-5 Regional Center Compliance Audit Program. Regional
center compliance audits are an additional way to enhance program
integrity and verify information in regional center applications and
annual certifications. These audits will verify compliance with
applicable laws and authorities to ensure continued eligibility for the
regional center designation.<br />
For example, the audit team:<br />
<ul>
<li>Reviews applications, certifications, associated records, and information on the regional center;</li>
<li>Verifies supporting documents, submitted with the application(s) and in the annual certification(s);</li>
<li>Conducts site inspections; and</li>
<li>Interviews personnel to confirm the information provided with the application(s) and annual certification(s).</li>
</ul>
You can read additional details on the program on our <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/eb-5-regional-center-compliance-audits">Regional Center Compliance Audit</a> page. Read more about the EB-5 program online at <a href="http://uscis.gov/EB-5">uscis.gov/EB-5</a>.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
USCIS Public EngagementEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-82316984908411032292017-03-11T20:42:00.002-08:002017-03-11T20:42:39.107-08:00Why kill the EB-5 Program?Sens. Diane Feinstein and Chuck Grassley may have their reasons, but why kill a job-creation program that works most of the time. Sure, there are some bad actors in the mix, but law enforcement agencies are rooting them out.<br />
EB-5 creates jobs, and that is something we need as a nation.<br />
I oppose S. 232 for the reasons stated above.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-27083645924998121852017-02-09T12:21:00.003-08:002017-02-09T12:21:56.908-08:00Sub-minimum investment amount needed for rural areasSens. Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy have proposed increasing the EB-5 Program minimum investment amounts to $800,000 (EB-5 projects in TEAs or rural areas) and $1.2 million elsewhere. DHS has proposed increasing these amounts even more to take into account inflation.<br />
Most of the EB-5 investment capital, thus far -- some say as much as 90 percent -- has gone to huge real estate projects in so-called "gateway cities" in California, Florida, and New York. This leaves regional centers and EB-5 projects in rural areas out of the picture.<br />
My regional center -- America's Center for Foreign Investment -- is a southeastern United States regional center. Most of ACFI's EB-5 projects are in rural areas. Trying to find investors for ACFI's projects -- although in growing industries -- is extremely difficult.<br />
ACFI pursues industries I think are likely to be successful. My regional center is active in affiliating independent- and assisted-living investment projects as well as manufacturers of modular homes and buildings made from hardened materials, such as steel and hardy plank, which resist hurricanes, tornadoes, fire and earthquakes. These structures are ideal for the Gulf Coast and for tornado-prone areas of the United States.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ACFI would be delighted to entertain other manufacturing projects in rural areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee (which is ACFI’s geographic area), but the EB-5 investment capital will not arrive because of the preponderance of EB-5 investment capital going to huge real estate projects in the gateway cities in California, Florida and New York.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>To address this issue, I propose a minimum investment amount of $650,000 in rural areas, whether or not the location of the EB-5 project is within or outside a Combined Statistical Area or Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). My rational for the former is that we have many cows and cow pastures in Montgomery County, where a manufacturing plant might be located, but the cow pastures are in an SMSA, so the current lower investment amount of $500,000 is not applicable unless the EB-5 project is within an area of high unemployment, defined as 150 percent of the national average (which fluctuates, of course). The Office of Management and Budget has repeatedly written to Congress that SMSA’s are created for “statistical purposes only” and were not meant to enable a particular federal program to operate within or outside an SMSA<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I feel confident that this lower minimum investment amount of $650,000, exclusively for rural areas, would substantially benefit manufacturing and agricultural industries in the southeastern United States, and create many more good jobs for U.S. workers and others within ACFI’s geographic area than the huge real estate projects in gateway cities.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-55007317534262822942017-01-10T12:47:00.004-08:002017-01-10T12:47:29.712-08:00Another EB-5 project developer pleads guiltySee:<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">http://tinyurl.com/ju652pg</b>EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-63209136180357132732016-12-27T15:30:00.001-08:002016-12-27T15:30:51.693-08:00Safe harbor: About fairnessAs more EB-5 regional centers and projects fail, and as more fraud is uncovered, I reiterate my long-held notion that the EB-5 Program calls for a "safe harbor" for investors. Consider this:<br />
EB-5 investors have done everything the U.S. government has asked them to do. They have placed their capital "at risk" in an EB-5 investment project for the purpose of creation of jobs and have filed an I-526 petition with USCIS.<br />
But what if the EB-5 investment project fails? What if the regional center fails? What if someone runs off to the Cayman Islands with investors' money? What if no jobs -- or not enough jobs -- for U.S. workers are created? What if the investors cannot prove their entire $500,000 was invested "at risk" in the EB-5 project because no accounting records exist? Most EB-5 investments use limited partnership, which means EB-5 investors have little or no control of the investment project.<br />
A "safe harbor" would protect investors from deportion or removal, a harsh and unfair result currently of not proving the removal of the two "conditions" (1) that the full $500,000 was invested in the EB-5 investment project, and (2) that the project created 10 new jobs for U.S. workers. In the case of a regional center project, indirect and induced jobs may be counted as well.<br />
But now, when investors are unable to prove that the two conditions were met, USCIS places the investors and their family members in deportation (or removal) proceedings. A very unfair thing to do to foreign investors who invested the money.<br />
I urge Congress to pass a safe harbor provision to make the EB-5 Program fair and just for foreign investors.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-24692974694399763442016-09-29T10:32:00.001-07:002016-09-29T10:32:57.125-07:00EB-5 regional center program extended until Dec. 9The House gave approval Wednesday to an already Senate-approved continuing budget resolution that would extend the EB-5 regional center program until Dec. 9, and avoid a government shutdown.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-30634867660979131442016-09-17T13:27:00.001-07:002016-09-17T13:27:10.395-07:00EB-5 bill is a mixed bag but won't become lawRep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced a bill that targets the so-called "EB-5 Program" for foreign immigrant investors. It has some good provisions in it, some bad provisions, but is not likely to become law.<br />
Congress has shown the American people over and over again that it will not do anything about immigration -- legal or illegal -- so the bill has little chance of becoming law. I would not be surprised if the chairman gets a favorable vote in the House Judiciary Committee, but in my view it goes no further.<br />
What is likely is a reauthorization of the EB-5 Program for three to five more years in the Continuing Budget Resolution, and that will likely occur in the first week or so in December before this session of Congress adjourns sine die. You heard it here first.<br />
See:<br />
https://judiciary.house,gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GOODLA_53_xml.pdfEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-64324749157105008712016-07-05T15:29:00.002-07:002016-07-05T15:29:45.122-07:00Alleged fraud uncovered in California regional centerMerced (California) County Superior Court Judge David Moranda ruled May 31 that a felony criminal case involving Sierra Academy of Aeronautics and KS Aviation co-owner Daniel B. Yoon, 66, must proceed to trial.<br />
Yoon is facing two counts of fraud (intent to defraud) and two counts of falsification of corporate documents.<br />
Prosecutor Walter Wall said in court that accusing him of falsely using the name of the flight school’s second owner, John Yoon (no relation), while applying for a $3 million loan from the Small Business Association and forging documents diminishing the percentage of ownership in Dan Yoon’s favor. He said the alleged illegal loans where used to purchase a flight simulator from the Boeing Aircraft Corporation, which is a critical component of the flight school’s pilot training program.<br />
Last January, federal agents from the U.S. Treasury Department raided the Atwater flight school as part of a federal investigation.<br />
Daniel Yoon is facing a host of legal problems in civil court.<br />
John Yoon is suing Daniel Yoon in a fight for control over the flight school, which was established in the Bay Area and moved to Castle in 2004.<br />
The civil lawsuit between John Yoon and Daniel Yoon is ongoing.<br />
The Sierra Academy of Aeronautics is a school that trains commercial pilots for several Asian commercial flight companies. Daniel Yoon owns a regional center called Sierra Air Center Development, LLC, which was established to provide flight training. His regional center is under investigation by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and was moved to Castle, CA, several years ago.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-78225270535751092572016-06-23T14:12:00.001-07:002016-06-23T14:12:45.235-07:00EB-5 is about job creationThe words I am hearing from our politicians make little sense. If I need a job, I am going to where the job is. I don't care if the job is in an "affluent" area or not. A job is a job.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-22959645997261906852016-06-02T18:37:00.002-07:002016-06-02T18:37:58.284-07:00EB-5 fraud case uncovered in southern California<div class="small-12 show-for-print" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #273a56; direction: ltr; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 562.078px;">
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SEC Halts EB-5 Scheme Stealing Investments in Cancer Center</h1>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2016-105</div>
<i id="locdate" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Washington D.C., June 2, 2016 </i>— <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a husband and wife accused of misusing two-thirds of the money they raised from investors for the purpose of building and operating a new cancer treatment center that would use proton beam radiation to help oncology patients in Southern California.</div>
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According to the SEC’s complaint unsealed today in federal court in Los Angeles, Charles C. Liu and Xin “Lisa” Wang raised $27 million for the proton therapy cancer treatment center from 50 investors in China through the EB-5 immigrant investor program. They touted in promotional materials that the project would create more than 4,500 new jobs and have a substantial impact on the local economy while giving foreign investors an opportunity for future U.S. residency. But presently there is no construction at the proposed site after more than 18 months of collecting investments. Liu meanwhile has transferred $11 million in investor funds to three firms in China and diverted another $7 million to his and his wife’s personal accounts.</div>
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In granting the SEC’s request to freeze the assets and accounts of Liu, Wang, and related entities, the court’s order prohibits them from raising further money from investors or spending remaining funds.</div>
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“We allege that Liu and Wang are using investor funds as their personal piggy bank and exploiting Chinese residents who were assured they were investing in an innovative project to create jobs and cure cancer patients,” said Michele Layne, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office.</div>
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According to the SEC’s complaint, one of the websites Liu and Wang have used to promote investments in the cancer center project includes a section entitled “Government Support” with photos of former president George Herbert Walker Bush and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Their photos are accompanied by what appear to be letters they wrote in support of proton therapy in general rather than the depicted EB-5 project, which had not even been initiated at the time the letters were written. </div>
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The SEC’s complaint names Liu and Wang along with the companies behind the EB-5 project: Pacific Proton Therapy Regional Center, Pacific Proton EB-5 Fund, and Beverly Proton Center LLC. They are charged with violating antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. The SEC seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions as well as the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties. </div>
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The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Tony Regenstreif and Lorraine L. Pearson and supervised by Victoria A. Levin of the Los Angeles office. The SEC’s litigation will be led by John Berry. The SEC appreciates the assistance of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> </div>
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EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-49957484582699331382016-04-21T16:15:00.002-07:002016-04-21T16:15:12.302-07:00Why was nothing done about the South Dakota beef packing plant meltdown?Source: Dakota Free Press<br />
<br />
Among the unsolved mysteries of South Dakota’s EB-5 scandal is how $167 million in state subsidies and private capital, including $95 million in EB-5 visa investment money, could have disappeared into Northern Beef Packers, a beef plant that took six years to build, ran nine months before going bankrupt, and then sold at auction to a clever investor for a mere $4.8 million—literally, pennies on the dollar.<br />
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We may find an answer to that mystery in Vermont, where state officials allege that developers Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger used EB-5 money for something other than the EB-5 projects with which they lured their foreign investors:<br />
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Governor Peter Shumlin, Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) Commissioner Susan Donegan, Attorney General William Sorrell, and Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) Secretary Patricia Moulton announced on April 14 that the State and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have filed similar civil actions alleging investor fraud dating back to 2008 at EB-5 development projects run by Florida resident Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger….<br />
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From his very first contact with Jay Peak in 2008, Quiros “improperly” and with Stenger’s assistance, bought Jay Peak Resort with a substantial amount of EB-5 funds. AnC Bio, meanwhile, was to be a $110 million, medical clean-room EB-5 project originally set to open this fall. The SEC alleges that AnC Bio, the last of the approved projects, was a virtual ATM machine for Quiros.<br />
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…The complaints allege that Quiros and Stenger misused more than $200 million of investor funds intended for EB-5 development projects in northeastern Vermont. The cases further allege that Quiros misappropriated an additional $50 million of investor funds for his own personal use. According to the allegations, investor funds were unlawfully diverted, or misused, between and among various EB-5 projects over many years. In addition, Quiros’s alleged misappropriations of investor funds for personal use include: over $2 million to purchase an apartment at Trump Place in New York City; millions of dollars to pay personal income taxes and other personal expenses; and over $20 million to purchase Jay Peak and Q Burke Resorts [Source: Timothy McQuiston, “State Files Suit Alleging Investor Fraud at Jay Peak, Inc EB-5 Projects,” Vermont Business Magazine, 2016.04.14].<br />
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Stenger and Qiros are accused of using a complex web of corporate entities to cover their misappropriations. That sounds much like how Joop Bollen structured his state-approved EB-5 scheme. Perhaps South Dakota Attorney General A.G. Jackley will trace those intricate money paths back through Northern Beef Packers and all the way to Cyprus and Russia.<br />
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Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy spoke Thursday to demand reform in the EB-5 program. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has worked with his Republican colleague from Iowa, known EB-5 watchdog Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to bring more accountability to EB-5. The Senate passed an EB-5 amendment in 2013, but the GOP House refused to take the matter up for a vote. Rep. Kristi Noem, what’s that you said about wanting EB-5 reform?<br />
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Vermont and South Dakota are the only two states that have run EB-5 Regional Centers themselves rather than leaving it entirely to private companies. Yet these state-run programs seem just as susceptible to fraud and corruption as numerous privately-run EB-5 programs in other states.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-12127410479373958992016-04-16T21:40:00.002-07:002016-04-21T16:16:53.867-07:00Vermont Regional Center meltdownI guess I have decided to wait and see what happens, but there have been a deluge of calls and email messages regarding the SEC investigation into Jay Peak Resorts and the Vermont regional center.<br />
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Let's just try to do the best we can.<br />
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Boyd CampbellEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-9933335006465049542016-04-14T12:00:00.001-07:002016-04-14T12:00:42.854-07:00SEC freezes assets of ski resort amid fraud allegationsWashington, D.C., April 14, 2016 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a Vermont-based ski resort and related businesses allegedly misusing millions of dollars raised through investments solicited under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. <br />
The SEC’s case is filed in a Miami federal court. The court has appointed a receiver over the companies to prevent any further spending of investor assets.<br />
The SEC alleges that Ariel Quiros of Miami, William Stenger of Newport, Vt., and their companies made false statements and omitted key information while raising more than $350 million from investors to construct ski resort facilities and a biomedical research facility in Vermont. Investors were told they were investing in one of several projects connected to Jay Peak Inc., a ski resort operated by Quiros and Stenger, and their money would only be used to finance that specific project. Instead, in Ponzi-like fashion, money from investors in later projects was misappropriated to fund deficits in earlier projects. More than $200 million was allegedly used for other-than-stated purposes, including $50 million spent on Quiros’s personal expenses and in other ways never disclosed to investors.<br />
According to the SEC’s complaint, Quiros improperly tapped investor funds for such things as the purchase of a luxury condominium, payment of his income taxes and other taxes unrelated to the investments, and acquisition of an unrelated ski resort.<br />
“The alleged fraud ran the gamut from false statements to deceptive financial transactions to outright theft,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “As alleged in our complaint, the defendants diverted millions of EB-5 investor dollars to their own pockets, leaving little money for construction of the research facility investors were told would be built and thereby putting the investors’ funds and their immigration petitions in jeopardy.”<br />
The SEC’s complaint charges Quiros, Stenger, Jay Peak, and a company owned by Quiros called Q Resorts Inc. as well as seven limited partnerships and their general partner companies with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Four other companies are named as relief defendants in the SEC’s complaint for the purpose of recovering investor funds transferred into their accounts. The SEC seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest. The agency also seeks conduct-based injunctive relief against Quiros and Stenger along with an officer-and-director bar against Quiros.<br />
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Brian Theophilus James, Trisha D. Sindler, Michelle Lama, and Mark Dee, and the case was supervised by Chedly C. Dumornay of the Miami Regional Office. The SEC’s litigation will be led by Christopher Martin and Robert K. Levenson of the Miami office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Office of the Vermont Attorney General and other authorities in Vermont. See:<br />
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https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-69.htmlEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-10255051088046459442016-04-06T12:36:00.001-07:002016-04-06T12:36:47.871-07:00Scary thoughtUSCIS reports that as of April 5, 2016, it has approved 824 regional centers in the United States. Fully 98 percent (or more) of these regional centers are run by people who do not know what they are doing.<br />
Scary thought, indeed!EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-4286243485252366462016-01-15T17:24:00.001-08:002016-01-15T17:24:28.851-08:00Chicago EB-5 scam perpetrator pleads guilty to wire fraudAnshoo Sethi, pleaded guilty on January 12 to wire fraud, admitting his role in a scam that promised to build hotels and a convention center near O’Hare Airport by fraudulently raising more than $158 million from Chinese investors who expected to get immigrant visas under the so-called EB-5 Program, whose goal is to create full-time U.S. worker jobs.<br />
Sethi, 32, admitted in federal court that he provided investors with forged documents, including a bogus letter from Hyatt Hotels, to get them to invest in his development, which had been approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that grants immigrant visas to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in approved projects under the program.<br />
None of Sethi’s 290 investors got a visa, but they did receive refunds of their $500,000 investments.EB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3686858427416245593.post-29131982483209039272015-11-24T10:00:00.002-08:002015-11-24T10:00:43.949-08:00SEC freezes assets in south Florida EB-5 scamhttp://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2015/lr23409.htmEB-5http://www.blogger.com/profile/01420926317584970062noreply@blogger.com0