Connecting over 25 millions NRIs worldwide
Most trusted Name in the NRI media
NRI PEOPLE- OUR NETWORK
 
Sekhon & Sekhon- Jagprit Singh Sekhon, Jagdip Singh Sekhon

 

3 NRI Sacramento attorneys receive lengthy sentences in asylum fraud scheme investigated by ICE HSI

September 24, 2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Three attorneys for a northern California law firm and their contract interpreter were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Friday following their conviction on charges stemming from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that revealed they orchestrated a scheme to file hundreds of false asylum claims.

  • Jagprit Singh Sekhon, 39, of Westminster, Calif., formerly of Sacramento, was sentenced to 108 months in prison.
  • His brother and former partner in the Sekhon & Sekhon law firm, Jagdip Singh Sekhon, 42, of Salida, Calif., was sentenced to 60 months in prison.
  • Their former law firm associate, Manjit Kaur Rai, 33, of Discovery Bay, Calif., was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
  • The sentencing hearing for interpreter Iosif Caza, 43, of Sacramento has not yet concluded.
  • Interpreter Luciana Harmath, 29, of Glendale, Ariz., formerly of Sacramento, was sentenced to four months in prison last month.

Judge Damrell ordered Jagdip Sekhon and Jagprit Sekhon immediately remanded into custody to begin serving their sentences.

Rai was given three weeks to surrender to the designated prison.

The defendants were convicted last year of orchestrating a long-running scheme to file hundreds of false asylum claims. In sentencing Jagdip Sekhon, Judge Damrell said that while there were flaws in the asylum system that "doesn't give license to lawyers to take advantage of it." One of the primary purposes of the sentences, the judge said was "to deter future criminal conduct by lawyers who take advantage of this flawed system."

"As these sentences make clear, immigration benefit fraud is a serious crime," said Daniel Lane, assistant special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Sacramento. "Benefit fraud schemes like this not only undermine our nation's legal immigration system, they also pose a potential security threat. Homeland Security Investigations will move aggressively to identify and investigate individuals who exploit and corrupt our immigration system solely to enrich themselves."

"Through the granting of asylum, this nation offers its protection to victims of ethnic, religious, and political persecution from across the world," said U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner. "These defendants made a living out of cynically abusing and subverting the asylum process. That three of these defendants were licensed attorneys, officers of the court who are supposed to uphold the integrity of the process, is particularly offensive."

In addition to the prison sentences, the two Sekhons were also ordered to pay financial penalties. Jagprit Sekhon entered into stipulated money forfeiture judgments totaling $170,000. Following an extensive forfeiture trial, Judge Damrell ordered Jagdip Sekhon to forfeit $690,590 in ill-gotten gains. Beyond that, last year the California State Bar entered interim suspensions against the Sekhon brothers and Rai. In June, Jagdip Sekhon resolved his State Bar charges and agreed to a two-year suspension, which was stayed with an actual nine-month suspension from the practice of law. As part of his actual suspension, Jagdip Sekhon will be required to meet certain conditions before he may resume the practice of law.

The Sekhon brothers were partners in the law firm of Sekhon & Sekhon, which had offices in Sacramento and San Francisco and specialized in immigration cases.

According to evidence presented at the trial, beginning in the late 1990s and continuing through 2004, the defendants filed hundreds of asylum applications, primarily on behalf of Indian and Romanian nationals. In order to qualify for asylum in the United States, an applicant must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in his or her home country. Evidence at the trial showed the defendants filed numerous asylum applications containing fictitious stories of persecution, including false accounts of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and rape. Some of the accounts were reused in multiple asylum claims.

The applications were often supported by counterfeit or fraudulent doctor's letters, medical certificates and affidavits. The testimony also showed that many of Sekhon & Sekhon's Romanian clients traveled to Sacramento from other states, such as Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and ICE HSI are currently reviewing hundreds of the asylum cases filed by Sekhon & Sekhon to determine if they will be reopened.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Attorneys and interpreters for immigration law firm convicted in asylum fraud scheme

SACRAMENTO, Calif, .June 25, 2009 - Following a three-month trial, a federal jury here today returned guilty verdicts against three immigration attorneys and two interpreters for their role in a scheme to file hundreds of fraudulent asylum claims.

The five defendants were affiliated with the law firm of Sekhon & Sekhon, which had offices in Sacramento and San Francisco and specialized in immigration cases, particularly the representation of clients seeking asylum. Those convicted in the case, which was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), include:

  • Jagprit Singh Sekhon, law firm partner, 39, of Westminster, Calif., formerly of Sacramento;
  • Jagdip Singh Sekhon, law firm partner and Jagprit’s brother, 42, of Salida, Calif., formerly of Oakland;
  • Manjit Kaur Rai, attorney, 33, of Discovery Bay, Calif., formerly of Antioch;
  • Iosif Caza, 43, of Sacramento, Calif.; and
  • Luciana Harmath, 29, of Glendale, Ariz., formerly of Sacramento.

All five defendants were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by filing fraudulent asylum claims. In addition, Jagprit Sekhon, Rai, Caza and Harmath were convicted of a separate conspiracy to submit a false asylum claim. These four defendants were also convicted on several other counts of making false statement and asylum fraud relating to specific asylum claims.

Evidence introduced during the trial showed that from the late 1990s to late 2004, the defendants filed hundreds of asylum applications with INS and later with USCIS, primarily on behalf of Indian and Romanian nationals. To qualify for asylum status in the United States, applicants must show they have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home countries based upon their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The application process includes a written application with supporting documents and an interview with a USCIS asylum officer.

As part of the scheme, the defendants filed numerous asylum applications containing fictitious stories of persecution that the clients had supposedly suffered in their home countries on ethnic, religious or political grounds. The applications were often supported by doctor's letters, medical certificates, affidavits and other documents that were counterfeit or fraudulent.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the Sekhon brothers drafted persecution narratives containing fabricated stories of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and rape. Some of these accounts were used in asylum claims for multiple clients. After filing the claims, the defendants coached their clients to memorize the false stories in preparation for interviews with asylum officers and hearings before the immigration court.

"Through the granting of asylum, this nation offers its protection to victims of ethnic, religious, and political persecution from across the world," said Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown. "These defendants made a living out of cynically abusing the asylum process. That three of these defendants were attorneys, officers of the court who are supposed to uphold the integrity of the process, is particularly offensive. The Department of Justice is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who attempt systematically to undermine the immigration laws of this country."

"The jury's verdict is a stern reminder about the consequences awaiting those who conspire to compromise the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system," said Mark Wollman, special agent in charge for the ICE Office of Investigations that oversees Sacramento. "Our nation's asylum laws were designed to protect the world's most vulnerable populations. Disturbingly, in this instance, the defendants used their knowledge of these laws not for the greater good, but to undermine the system and enrich themselves."

Among the evidence presented to the jury during the trial were items recovered from Caza's home, including Romanian notary tax stamps found under his mattress, and images of seals for Romanian doctors, notaries and churches found on floppy discs in his bedroom. Some of those seals matched the seals on documents filed in connection with asylum claims by Sekhon & Sekhon clients.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentencing Oct. 16 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.

The maximum penalty for each of the counts involving conspiracy and false statement is five years in prison. The maximum sentence for asylum fraud is 10 years. In addition, the three attorneys, Jagprit Sekhon, Jagdip Sekhon and Rai, are likely to face State Bar disciplinary proceedings. Finally, Rai and Harmath are not citizens, so they may also face deportation following the service of any prison term imposed at sentencing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
October 19, 2006

THREE LAWYERS, TWO TRANSLATORS CHARGED IN SCHEME TO FILE
FRAUDULENT ASYLUM APPLICATION

SACRAMENTO--United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced yesterday that three lawyers and two translators associated with the law firm of Sekhon & Sekhon, an immigration law firm which had offices in Sacramento and San Francisco, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy, filing fraudulent immigration documents, and making false statements. The indictment alleges that between early 2000 and late 2004, the defendants filed numerous asylum applications with INS (later the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security ("CIS")), containing fictitious stories of persecution the clients supposedly had suffered in their home countries on ethnic, religious or political grounds. The applications were often supported by doctor's letters, medical certificates, affidavits and other documents which were counterfeit or fraudulent. As a result, the indictment alleges, scores of Sekhon & Sekhon clients fraudulently obtained lawful status as asylees in the United States.

The indictment was the product of a three and a half year investigation carried out by Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security.

Named as defendants in the case were JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON, 36, formerly of Sacramento; JAGDIP SINGH SEKHON, 39, of Oakland; MANJIT KAUR RAI, 31, formerly of Antioch; IOSIF CAZA, 40, of Sacramento; and LUCIANA HARMATH, 27, formerly of Sacramento. The indictment indicates that the SEKHONS are brothers, who owned and managed the law firm of Sekhon & Sekhon. MANJIT KAUR RAI was an attorney who handled asylum applications at the firm, and IOSIF CAZA and LUCIANA HARMATH were Romanian translators who worked for clients of the firm on a contract basis.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin B. Wagner and Camil A. Skipper, who are prosecuting the case, the indictment alleges that the law firm handled numerous asylum applications on behalf of persons from India and other South Asian countries, but that beginning in approximately 2000, an increasing percentage of the firm's asylum business involved persons from Romania. The indictment states that JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON, often assisted in cases involving Romanian clients by IOSIF CAZA or LUCIANA HARMATH, would interview clients seeking legal status in the United States, and then prepare asylum applications that often contained detailed but fictitious accounts of beatings, harassment, torture and sexual abuse directed at the clients in their home countries due to their ethnicity or to their religious or political activities. Under U.S. immigration laws, in order to qualify for asylum, an applicant must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in his or her country due to the applicant's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

The indictment alleges that JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON and MANJIT KAUR RAI would direct clients to collect documents to support the fictitious story, and that Romanian clients who wanted assistance in gathering documents were referred to IOSIF CAZA who, for a fee, would generate counterfeit documents that appeared to be letters, certificates or affidavits created in Romania. The indictment further alleges that all five defendants participated in preparation sessions with clients prior to interviews with Asylum Officers at CIS, or prior to appearances in immigration court, at which the defendants rehearsed the clients in telling the fictitious stories of persecution, and helped add details to the stories.

According to the indictment, defendants JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON, JAGDIP SINGH SEKHON, and MANJIT KAUR RAI represented clients at the asylum hearings where the clients presented false testimony, and defendants IOSIF CAZA and LUCIANA HARMATH acted as interpreters for the clients during asylum interviews where false statements were made. Defendant MANJIT KAUR RAI is also charged with making false statements to investigating DHS agents on May 19, 2005.

Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make false statements in asylum applications. Defendants JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON, MANJIT KAUR RAI, IOSIF CAZA and LUCIANA HARMATH are also charged with conspiracy to make false statements. Defendant JAGPRIT SINGH SEKHON is also charged with 11 counts of filing false documents in asylum proceedings and with three counts of aiding and abetting false statements. Defendant MANJIT KAUR RAI is also charged with two counts of filing false documents in asylum proceedings and with two counts of false statements. Defendant IOSIF CAZA is also charged with nine counts of filing false documents in asylum proceedings and with three counts of false statements. Defendant LUCIANA HARMATH is also charged with two counts of filing false documents in asylum proceedings and with one count of aiding and abetting false statements.

All the charges are felonies. For the conspiracy offenses, each defendant faces 5 years of imprisonment. For each offense of filing false documents in asylum proceedings, the maximum sentence is ten years in prison, and for each offense of making or aiding and abetting false statements, the maximum penalty is 5 years imprisonment. Upon conviction, each defendant would also face a fine of up to$250,000 fine per count and a 3-year term of supervision. However, the actual sentence will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and other factors, and will be imposed at the discretion of the court. The indictment seeks forfeiture of over $2.5 million from the SEKHONS, representing proceeds to Sekhon & Sekhon from the false document offenses, and over $685,00 from defendant IOSIF CAZA, representing his proceeds from the offenses.

The United States Attorney's Office noted that the charges are only accusations, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

 

 

Sekhon & Sekhon A Professional Law Corporation
1440 Broadway # 311
Oakland, CA 94612