Iranian Charged With Visa Fraud
An Iranian opposition leader arrested after he stepped off a jet at Los Angeles International Airport will face a visa fraud charge in Virginia, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
Aladdin Touran, a senior official of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, is scheduled to appear in U.S. Eastern District Court in Virginia on Monday for entering the country on a visa obtained dishonestly, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Robin Scroggie.
Touran, 33, was taken into custody late last month after he arrived on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen. He was carrying Swedish travel documents issued in the name of Noori-Elika.
He had been scheduled for an identification hearing in federal court Tuesday, but waived that proceeding.
A complaint charges Touran with entering the United States on a fraudulent visa acquired at Dulles International Airport outside Washington in August, 1988.
If convicted, Touran could face five years in prison and a $2,000 fine.
Ali Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the Mojahedin, which has engaged in combat with the Iranian regime, said Touran came to Los Angeles to meet with other members of the group when he was arrested.
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