Friday, September 19, 2008

Atlanta Man Gets 3+ Years In Visa Fraud, House Flipping Scam

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:
  • An Atlanta man will go to federal prison for fraudulently applying for work visas for more than 70 people and using the proceeds from the visa fraud scheme to fund a separate mortgage fraud ring. Suren Agadzhanov, 42, of Atlanta, was sentenced late [last] Thursday to three years and 10 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.

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  • As the federal agencies began to uncover Agadzhanov’s visa fraud scheme, his sham applications were rejected. Eventually, Agadzhanov got out of the visa fraud business and started investing the proceeds from that fraud in Atlanta residential real estate. Typically, Agadzhanov would find a property in foreclosure, buy it, and then flip the house to one of his visa clients at an inflated price. That buyer would never move in and the house would quickly fall back into foreclosure.

For more, see Visa and mortgage fraud scam lands Atlantan in federal prison.