Two Pakistani nationals based in Texas have been arrested for allegedly running a multi-year immigration fraud and money laundering racket involving fake job offers and fraudulent visa applications, FBI director Kash Patel has said.
Abdul Hadi Murshid, 39, and Muhammad Salman Nasir, 35, have been charged along with a Texas law firm and a company named Reliable Ventures Inc. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud, money laundering, and racketeering. Murshid is also accused of illegally trying to get US citizenship.
"Major arrests out of @FBIDallas. Abdul Hadi Murshid and Muhammad Salman Nasir, two individuals out of Texas who allegedly oversaw and operated a criminal enterprise circumventing American immigration laws by selling fraudulent visa applications," wrote Kash Patel on X.
"Well done to our FBI teams and partners in the investigation," he added.
According to the indictment, the two men and their businesses made money by filing fake visa applications to help foreigners, called "visa seekers" in court documents, illegally enter and stay in the US. They submitted false paperwork, lied about job offers, and used the EB-2, EB-3, and H-1B visa programmes to trick the system.
To make it look like real job offers, they allegedly placed fake job ads in newspapers to meet the US Department of Labour's requirement of first offering jobs to Americans. Once they got approval, they filed petitions with US immigration authorities and applied for green cards on behalf of the visa seekers.
They were also accused of taking money from these visa seekers and then returning part of it as fake salaries to make the jobs look legitimate.
"These defendants are charged with engaging in extensive measures to hide a massive, multi-year, immigration fraud scheme through which they reaped substantial personal financial gain," said Acting US Attorney Chad E Meacham, adding that pursuing criminal charges was "top priority."
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R Joseph Rothrock added, "The defendants allegedly oversaw an international criminal enterprise for years that repeatedly undermined our nation's immigration laws. These laws are necessary to protect national security and safeguard the lawful immigration process."
Murshid and Nasir appeared in court on May 23. The government has asked that they be kept in custody until trial. A hearing is set for May 30.
If convicted, both men could face up to 20 years in prison. Murshid could also lose his US citizenship.
