INS Examiner, Husband Given 4 Years in Bribery

A U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service examiner and her husband were sentenced to four years in prison Monday for a bribery scheme in which they collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from Taiwanese immigrants in exchange for granting them permanent residency status in the United States.

The sentences, which included fines totaling $450,000, were imposed on Dorothy Anaya, 39, and her husband, Robert, 48, of Pasadena by U.S. District Judge Steven V. Wilson, who said the massive immigration fraud case was a “clear violation of trust” that demanded tough punishment.

“This is a case that clearly has a message,” Wilson said. “This case has been followed closely, certainly, by all the honest, hard-working people in the immigration service.”

The Anayas were arrested in May for investigation of charges that they participated in a scheme in which Dorothy Anaya, an INS employee for 15 years, issued permanent residency permits to 36 Taiwanese aliens posing as Buddhist monks and nuns in exchange for bribes of up to $40,000.

Assistant U.S. Attys. James E. Berliner and Maurice A. Leiter, who prosecuted the case, said that Robert Anaya was the “moving force” in the bribery plan but that Dorothy Anaya had participated in the scheme as an “equal partner.”

Robert Anaya, a former criminal investigator for the INS, was involved in an import business with a third suspect in the case, Alfred Lin, 50, of Northridge, at the time of his arrest. Lin, also charged by federal officials on fraud and bribery charges, is a fugitive.

Berliner said the Taiwanese aliens posed as Buddhist monks and nuns in an attempt to use a federal law that grants permanent resident status to foreign clergy if they have proof of a similar religious position waiting for them here.

The Anayas were found guilty Aug. 15 after a two-week trial in which Dorothy Anaya took the witness stand to claim her innocence. Wilson said he was giving her a heavier sentence than he might have under other circumstances because he thought that she had lied under oath.

“There are many constitutional rights but there is no constitutional right to lie,” he said. “When you do that, you tear apart the fabric of the judicial system just as you tear apart the administrative system when you take bribes.”

“I can tell you, Mrs. Anaya, the sentence would have been much much different--much different--had you not perjured yourself,” Wilson said.

Berliner and Leiter sought the heavy fines to negate the profits made by the Anayas during a scheme that lasted a year ending in August, 1982. The prosecutors said the Anayas received at least $700,000 for their role in the conspiracy, which they used to invest in a $500,000 Pasadena home and half a dozen business and rental properties.

Defense lawyers argued for leniency, saying their clients are now financially insolvent and involved in bankruptcy proceedings.

Attorney Hiram W. Kwan unsuccessfully urged Wilson to suspend Dorothy Anaya’s sentence and instead order her to perform community service work.

“She is a person who served with distinction,” Kwan said. “She was highly thought of by her fellow government employees. Her skills could be used for the community’s benefit.”