LA lawyers sentenced for visa fraud
April 2, 2008 -- Got something to say?
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SAN DIEGO - Two lawyers - one a name partner and the other a senior associate - at one of the West Coasts largest immigration law firms popular with Filipinos were sentenced on Monday (March 10) for filing false visa applications on behalf of foreign nationals, including more than a dozen of the firms own workers, a Department of Justice spokesman announced in Los Angeles.
The justice department said Daniel E. Korenberg, 58, of Encino, a name partner and founder of the law firm previously known as Korenberg, Abramowitz & Feldun (KAF), was meted a 24-month sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
Following that, Korenberg would be on supervised release for three years plus six months in home detention with electronic monitoring. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $750,000.
A senior associate at KAF, Steven James Rodriguez, 42, of Thousand Oaks, was sentenced to three years probation with the condition that he serve six months of home detention with electronic monitoring and perform 200 hours of community service, according to the justice department.
Rodriguez had pleaded guilty last year to one count of making false statements to the United States through the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
These sentences successfully conclude the investigation and prosecution of two attorneys who filed false documentation for personal gain, facilitating the illegal entry of foreign nationals into the United States, said Gordon Heddell, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
The other name partner at KAF, Philip Abramowitz, 54, of Agoura Hills, is scheduled to be sentenced on March 24, 2008, the justice department said. He pleaded guilty to two counts of visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit visa faud.
The State Bar of California has listed Abramowitz as not eligible to practice law as of July 25, 2007 as related to case number 06-C-15537; and again as of September 28, 2007 as related to case number 07-Q-13768.
State bar records indicate that Abramowitz tendered his resignation from the Bar with charges on Sept. 28, 2007. Los Angeles-based United States District Judge Percy Anderson handed the sentences.
Korenberg and Rodriguez were charged in a 33-count indictment handed down in February 2007 following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, and the California Employment Development Department.
The indictment said that beginning in 2000 and continuing through at least February 2003, the defendants filed fraudulent employment-based visa petitions on behalf of foreign nationals seeking temporary work authorization or permanent residency in the United States.
At least 19 of the aliens who benefitted from the visa fraud scheme were KAF employees. KAF, which is now known as ASK Law Group, is based in the San Fernando Valley community of Sherman Oaks, and the firm maintains offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas.
In San Diego, its downtown office is managed by Edwin Bael, a former consul general of the Philippines in Los Angeles. The law firm is quite popular with Filipinos. Previous attempts to get his comments had been largely ignored.
Court papers detailed how KAF hired foreign nationals without work authorization for a variety of support positions, including paralegal jobs. The defendants then allegedly applied for fraudulent work visas for those employees and paid them off the books in cash until the visas were approved.
The probe also targeted two Los Angeles-area employment agencies, Job Seekers International and Employmasters International.
The other defendants charged and awaiting sentencing are: Heidi Poepping, 45, of Moorpark, Arturo Valencia, 56, of Walnut, the owner of Job Seekers International, Maria Theresa Resurreccion, 40, of Anaheim, an employee of JSI, Arnel Dizon, 36, of Corona, a co-owner of Employmasters International, and Marlyn Rodriguez Dizon (Arnels wife), 44, of Los Angeles, a co-owner of Employmasters International.
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