ULADZIMIR DANSKOI, Immigration Fraud, New York 2024
Immigration Attorney and CEO Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Immigration Fraud
MANHATTAN, NY - ULADZIMIR DANSKOI, the CEO of an immigration services firm, and JULIA GREENBERG, an immigration attorney, were found guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit immigration fraud following a two-week trial before United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken.
According to the allegations in the Indictment and evidence presented at trial, A New York City immigration services firm, "Russian America," worked with clients – primarily aliens from Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States – seeking visas, asylum, citizenship, and other forms of legal status in the United States. Among other things, Russian America advised certain of their clients in the manner in which they were most likely to obtain asylum in this country, fully understanding that those clients did not legitimately qualify for asylum.
The firm also prepared and submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") clients' fraudulent asylum application documents and affidavits, often including fraudulent allegations of past persecution. Members and associates of the firm also coached certain clients to lie under oath during interviews conducted by USCIS Asylum Officers and provided legal representation to their clients during various immigration proceedings.
ULADZIMIR DANSKOI and previously convicted codefendant Yury Mosha operated and maintained Russian America's Brooklyn and Manhattan offices, respectively. Each advised and aided their clients to seek asylum under fraudulent pretenses. Among other things, DANSKOI advised a client, a confidential FBI source (the "Source"), to seek asylum on the fraudulent basis that the client was persecuted in Ukraine for being a gay male, when in fact DANSKOI fully understood that the Source was a heterosexual male who suffered no such persecution.
DANSKOI submitted the Source's fraudulent asylum application and Affidavit, filed under penalty of perjury, to USCIS. Meanwhile, Mosha encouraged a second client, a Government cooperator (the "Cooperator"), to establish and maintain online blogs that were critical of the client's home country as a way to generate a false claim that, based on the client's invented political opinion, it was unsafe for him to return to his native country.
When the Source and Cooperator needed to prepare for an interview, conducted under oath by a USCIS asylum officer, DANSKOI and Mosha connected each to JULIA GREENBERG, a New York immigration attorney, who coached both clients to lie to Asylum Officers and provided legal representation to these clients during immigration proceedings. For example, GREENBERG, understanding that the Source was a heterosexual male who did not suffer persecution in his home country, prepared the Source for questioning by an Asylum Officer, advised the Source how to falsely answer certain anticipated questions from the Asylum Officer, and instructed the Source to dress and change the Source's appearance in a manner that comported with GREENBERG's vision of a gay male.
Defendant: ULADZIMIR DANSKOI
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Conspiracy to Commit Immigration Fraud
City and State: Manhattan, New York
Exact Date: Yesterday
Sentence or Outcome: Found guilty
Tags: ULADZIMIR DANSKOI, immigration fraud, conspiracy, Russian America, Manhattan, New York, 2024
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →