4 Are Accused of Visa Fraud

Four people have been charged in a fraud scheme that immigration officials say represented one of the largest employment-related visa scams ever uncovered in Southern California.

Smashing the alleged scam, which involved the filing of bogus work visa applications on behalf of hundreds of foreign nationals, ended a more than two-year investigation that drew on resources from several government agencies.

A 122-page affidavit in support of the criminal complaint names more than 200 companies throughout Southern California, including medical clinics, auto parts stores and others, that acted as petitioners for those seeking the work visas.

Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. attorney’s office said that the duration, scale and methods of the scheme were particular cause for concern.

“When you talk about a case ongoing for over 10 years and hundreds of illegal immigrants entering the country, the scope of it raises this to a level that our office is extremely interested in putting a stop to,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Rebecca Lonergan.

David Wales, a resident-agent-in-charge for the immigration and customs agency, said that in an era of increased security concerns, such schemes provide “a huge hole through which just about anybody can enter the country.”

The four individuals charged Nov. 15 with conspiracy to commit visa fraud are Henry Hossein Haghighi Heguman, 59, a businessman from West Hills, who is described in the criminal complaint as the ringleader; Bita Logham Hoffman, 39, of Carlsbad, Calif., a partner in the Van Nuys law firm of Hoffman, Rahmaty & Associates; Farideh Mir, 58, of Sherman Oaks, a Hoffman employee; and Grace Houra Shahraz Edison, 49, a Canoga Park businesswoman.

Lonergan said Haghighi and Edison were being detained without bond. Hoffman has been released on $500,000 bail. A bond hearing for Mir is scheduled this week.

The case was cracked following investigations, beginning in April 2002, into tips from employees at the Laguna Niguel-based office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The federal workers detected a pattern of suspect employment-related visa applications. Agents later used wiretaps and relied on confidential informants during the investigation, Lonergan said.

Red flags were raised when investigators determined that Haghighi and his associates -- who authorities say allegedly started the enterprise in 1993 -- were charging their clients $8,000 to $30,000 to obtain fraudulent work visas. Most of the clients were Iranian nationals.

Employment-based visas are typically issued to businesses that need to fill a specific job but are unable to find a qualified candidate in the U.S. labor pool. Businesses can file a petition to allow a qualified foreign national to enter the country and work for them.

Although the affidavit lists more than 200 Southern California companies that acted as petitioners for Haghighi’s clients, Wales said that number could grow after a review of more than 100 boxes of business records seized in recent weeks.

The affidavit highlights a 1999 case in which Haghighi allegedly suggested that a man seek to immigrate as a pizza cook. Although the visa applicant acknowledged having no experience working in restaurants or the food industry, Haghighi persuaded a Glendale pizza parlor to file an employment-based visa petition on the man’s behalf.

“If they were willing to turn this individual into a pizza maker, who knows what other type of people they might try to bring in and under what type of ruse,” said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Authorities were investigating to what extent businesses were complicit in the scam, but said that some are suspected of having received kickbacks.

According to the affidavit, Haghighi allegedly paid more than $200,000 to petitioning businesses over a period of time.