Hotel Developer Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Exploiting U.S. Visa Program
February 21, 2017
Hotel Developer Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Exploiting U.S. Visa Program
CHICAGO — A Chicago hotel developer was sentenced today to three years in prison for exploiting a federal visa program to fraudulently raise capital from Chinese nationals who were seeking residency in the United States.
ANSHOO SETHI, the founder of A Chicago Convention Center LLC, purported in 2011 to build a hotel and convention center near O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Sethi solicited Chinese nationals to invest $500,000 apiece in the project, plus $41,500 in administrative fees to Sethi’s company. Each Chinese national who participated in the project also applied for an EB-5 visa, which allows foreign investors to obtain a temporary two-year visa that could later be converted to a permanent visa upon success of an employment-generating investment. While soliciting investors Sethi made several false statements, including lies about funding and tax credits from the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, none of which materialized.
The $900 million project never got off the ground, and no EB-5 visas were ever granted to investors.
In all, Sethi raised approximately $158 million from more than 290 investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a civil lawsuit against Sethi and was able to restore approximately $147 million to Chinese investors.
FULL PRESS RELEASE: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/hotel-developer-sentenced-three-years-prison-exploiting-us-visa-program
