Baltimore Attorney and Clients Indicted for Bribery

A federal grand jury has indicted an immigration attorney and four of his clients in connection with a conspiracy to bribe an immigration official in order to obtain lawful permanent residence, employment authorization documents and green cards.

The defendants are Kiran Dewan, 59, of Woodbine, Maryland; Amjad Israr, 46, of Cheshire, Connecticut; Mohammad Khan, 58, of Baltimore, Maryland; Khazar Nadar, 55, of Catonsville, Maryland; and Narayan Thapa, 51, of Perry Hall, Maryland.

The indictment alleges that Dewan obtained money from Israr, Khan, Nadar and Thapa to bribe an undercover agent to obtain lawful permanent residence, employment authorization documents and green cards. Dewan then allegedly prepared fraudulent immigration documents for his clients to sign and submit to the undercover agent.

The indictment alleges that the defendants met with the undercover HSI special agent on several occasions to create application documents for submission to USCIS. Although Dewan allegedly agreed to pay the undercover agent bribes for each client in order to obtain the requested documents, Dewan provided the undercover agent a total of $117,100 in a series of installments.

The defendants each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for the conspiracy and a maximum of 15 years in prison for each count of bribery. An initial appearance is scheduled today for Dewan, Khan and Thapa in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Israr had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, and was detained.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge in Baltimore William Winter said, “Immigration attorneys hold positions of public trust and it is disturbing that anyone would defraud the very system in which they work for their own personal profit.”

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); District Director Gregory Collett of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Baltimore District Office; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

As the investigation continues, it is clear that the defendants’ actions have compromised the integrity of our immigration system. The public can be assured that those who engage in such activities will be held accountable for their actions.

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