F.B.I. agents during a raid in Chinatown in Manhattan on Tuesday. Twenty-six people, including six lawyers and employees of at least10 law firms, were arrested in what the authorities said was a plot to orchestrate false asylum claims for Chinese immigrants.

They invented woeful tales of persecution for their Chinese clients. Prepped them on how to lie about having had a forced abortion. Even tutored them on religion.

In all,26 people, including6 lawyers, were charged Tuesday with helping Chinese immigrants submit false asylum claims in an effort to stay in the United States, law enforcement officials said.

The indictments describe elaborate schemes based in law offices in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, Queens, which involved teams of paralegals and office managers, translators and a church official, who conspired to dupeimmigration officials by inventing stories of political and religious persecution for their clients, officials said.

The indictments say female clients who sought asylum based on China’s one-child policy were encouraged to prepare for asylum interviews by watching Chinese soap operas so they could describe the experience of a forced abortion. Some paralegals were called“story writers” for their knack for inventing detailed tales of persecution. A church official in Flushing prepared clients for questions on religion by offering basic instruction in Christianity.

More than20 defendants were arrested in raids in Manhattan’s Chinatown and in Flushing, capping a three-year investigation.

Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused the defendants of“weaving elaborate fictions” and making it“more difficult for those who are legitimately seeking refuge in this country.”

The indictments charged employees of at least10 law firms, the authorities said. In the past few years, the firms filed more than1,900 asylum applications, according to the indictments; officials did not say how many they believe were fraudulent.

Tuesday’s operation appeared to be among the largest roundups of lawyers and their associates in New York City in connection with asylum fraud allegations. Even so, the federal indictments only hinted at the pervasiveness of immigration fraud within the Chinese diaspora, experts said.

Peter Kwong, a professor of Asian-American studies and urban affairs at Hunter College, said he believed most Chinese asylum cases in New York City were fraudulent.“This is an industry,” Mr. Kwong said.“Everybody knows about it, and these violations go on all the time.”

Immigrants can apply for asylum within a year of arriving in the United States and may qualify if they can show that they have suffered persecution or have a“well-founded fear of future persecution” on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.

Far more Chinese immigrants seek and receive asylum in the United States than any other group, government figures show. In fiscal year2011, about8,600 Chinese immigrants received asylum, or more than34 percent of all successful asylum seekers.

The investigation began after federal immigration officials in New York told investigators they were seeing similarities in many of the cases they were handling, according to an official briefed on the investigation.

In many of the cases reviewed by investigators, Chinese immigrants said they had been persecuted for being Christian or followers of Falun Gong. Others said they were persecuted for their political leanings. Yet others claimed they had suffered forcible abortions under China’s family-planning rules, the authorities said.

But investigators determined that many of the asylum applicants“had not actually suffered persecution in China,” according to the indictments.

In exchange for money, the indictments state,“the law firm would make up a story of persecution and the client would need to memorize that story.”

Many of the law firms referred clients to the Full Gospel Church in Flushing, where they would meet with a church official, Liying Lin, prosecutors said.

Ms. Lin,29, provided services to asylum seekers including“training in the basic tenets of Christianity,” prosecutors said. But much of Ms. Lin’s instruction was specifically aimed at tricking the immigration authorities, according to the indictment against her, which claimed that she“trained asylum applicants on what questions about religious belief would be asked during an asylum interview and coached the clients on how to answer.”

In return for such instruction, applicants“were expected to make cash donations.” For an additional price, Ms. Lin provided certificates showing“the client’s attendance at church and/or the client’s baptism,” according to the indictment.

All26 defendants were charged with conspiring to commit immigration fraud. They were awaiting arraignment Tuesday night.

涉难民欺诈 FBI纽约律师楼抓21人华人占多

【大纪元2012年12月19日讯】（大纪元记者蔡溶纽约报导）美国联邦调查局（FBI）连同纽约市警局，周二（18日）突然搜查了市内至少10家律师楼，有26人被控涉嫌难民申请欺诈。在18日早上的扫荡行动中，共有21人被捕，两人将在今天投案自首，另有三人在逃。

在18日早上的行动中，位于华埠东百老汇街上的2号和11号两栋楼被封，FBI进行搜查。其中11号楼4楼的一家律师行被搜查，而位于2号楼4楼至9楼的律师行也同时被搜查。据目击者称，被抓捕的大部分是华人也有西方人士，被搜查的律师行规模都比较大，客户多为华人。

抓捕行动后，不少华人青年在被搜查的律师楼附近进进出出，急于了解自己的难民申请文件是否受到影响。联成公所顾问赵文笙对事件评论说，其实聘请非法运营的移民服务中介办身分，不仅损失钱财，移民申请遭拒，还可能向移民局暴露其非法身分，有可能被递解出境。

其中11号楼4楼的一家律师行Bandrich& Associates被搜查。(摄影﹕蔡溶/大纪元)

据美国司法部公布的新闻公告，曼哈顿联邦法院起诉了包括六名律师在内的二十六人，指控他们在数百个移民庇护申请中进行移民欺诈。这些被搜查的律师行涉嫌为海外客户假造难民申请材料，并培训客户如何向移民官说谎。被捕的21人均在律师楼工作，其中6人是律师，另有四人在皇后区一个政治庇护办公室工作的翻译人员被起诉。

此外，一名在皇后区一所教堂的工作人员被起诉，她涉嫌为来自中国的客户，提供基督教知识培训，以便这些人假称因信仰基督教在中国被迫害。其他主要造假方式还有，假装是计划生育的受害者；假称因信仰基督教受迫害；假称是法轮功学员或中国民主党成员而受迫害。

执法部门根据纽约庇护办公室、美国公民和移民服务局及国土安全部的举报采取了本次行动。所有26名被告都被控犯有阴谋移民欺诈罪。5被告被控实质性的移民欺诈罪，还有两名被告被指控涉嫌销售假冒的中国身份证。

嫌犯包括（以下音译）﹕刘风铃律师（46岁）、Vanessa Bandrich律师（33岁）、李丰律师（31岁）、办公室经理苗裕昌（别名大卫∕47岁）、刘淑然办公室经理（别名哈利∕35岁）、刘凯文律师助理、26岁的郑闻廷律师助理、苗国秦（别名Lillian∕45岁）、杨欣律师助理、Ken Giles律师（53岁）、车宏（别名陈朱莉∕49岁）、Freddy Jacobs律师（63岁）、办公室经理杨Fnu（别名Daisy）、王约翰律师（32岁）、黄德金律师助理（别名黄叔或老黄∕60岁）、王建恩部门经理（46岁），翻译陈莲娜（24岁）、翻译张勇（别名汤姆∕38岁）、翻译罗讼（34岁）、翻译杨献军（58岁）、王泽员（别名Steve∕32岁）、陆旭办公室经理（42岁）、王欢（40岁）、宗教训练员林立英（29岁）、办公室主任徐小峰（57岁）及办公室经理温霞平（49岁）等。

根据起诉书，嫌犯Ken Giles将面临最高15年监禁的刑罚，嫌犯Freddy Jacobs面临的最高刑罚是25年监禁。林立英（音译，Liying Lin）面临的最高刑罚是35年监禁。王约翰（John Wang）等四名被告中的两名面临最高20年监禁。其余19名被告面对的最高刑罚是五年监禁。