Ghanaian National Sentenced for Citizenship Scam

A Ghanaian national has been sentenced to two years of supervised release, with the first six months to be served on home confinement with electronic monitoring and a 7:00pm curfew, for making false statements in order to obtain citizenship and for attempting to procure citizenship.

Samer El-Sayed, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs. El-Sayed will be subject to deportation proceedings.

In January 2018, El-Sayed was convicted by a federal jury of one count of willfully and knowingly making false statements; one count of making false statements under oath relative to naturalization, citizenship or alien registry; and one count of unlawful attempted procurement of citizenship or naturalization.

According to court documents, in June 2008, El-Sayed entered the United States on a non-immigrant visa. In February 2009, El-Sayed entered into a sham marriage with an 18-year-old United States citizen to whom he paid several thousand dollars.

El-Sayed then began filing various petitions and applications with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in order to obtain immigration benefits. In March 2010, El-Sayed was granted conditional permanent resident status. In 2012, El-Sayed submitted false statements on a petition filed with USCIS and subsequently provided false statements under oath to USCIS during an interview that occurred in January 2014.

Then, in May 2014, El-Sayed submitted an application for United States citizenship to USCIS and provided false information and statements in that application.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Denis C. Riordan, District Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, District 1, made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Jacobus Sullivan of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.