Feng Ling Liu, Vanessa Bandrich, Rui Yang, Immigration Fraud, New York 2014

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Three individuals convicted of immigration fraud in Manhattan federal court

In a move aimed at curbing immigration fraud, three individuals – Feng Ling Liu, Vanessa Bandrich, and Rui Yang – were found guilty of conspiring to commit immigration fraud in Manhattan federal court. The convictions come as a result of a 19-day jury trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.

According to the indictment, Feng Ling Liu, a 48-year-old lawyer from Manhattan, New York, operated two law firms – the Law Offices of Feng Ling Liu and Moslemi and Associates, Inc. – which assisted aliens from China in obtaining asylum status through fraud. Liu and her employees profited by creating and submitting asylum applications containing false stories of persecution purportedly suffered by alien applicants.

Vanessa Bandrich, a 34-year-old lawyer from Manhattan, New York, worked at one of Liu’s firms, Moslemi and Associates, Inc. In that capacity, she prepared certain clients to tell false stories of persecution in immigration court proceedings related to their asylum application. Bandrich also opened a separate law firm, Bandrich and Associates, Inc., which assisted clients in obtaining asylum status through fraud.

Rui Yang, a 30-year-old office worker from Flushing, New York, helped the firm’s clients prepare their false asylum applications at Bandrich and Associates, Inc.

The defendants each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. Liu is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Abrams on July 25, 2014, while Bandrich and Yang are scheduled to be sentenced on July 31 and August 1, 2014, respectively.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca Mermelstein, Robert Boone, and Patrick Egan in charge of the prosecution.

Feng Ling Liu, Vanessa Bandrich, and Rui Yang are set to join the 27 others who have been convicted in connection with this sprawling immigration fraud scheme.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/two-lawyers-and-office-worker-convicted-immigration-fraud-offenses-following-jury-trial