We don’t know how many of the seventy fraudulent asylum claims were actually approved, but yesterday the ring leader, Gasim Manafov, was sentenced to a measly 18 months in prison for his role in helping them prepare their lies for immigration rulings. Two co-conspirators got one and three months respectively. No mention of the deportation for the criminals after release from prison.
And, I wonder who were the immigration lawyers Manafov must have worked with!
Just a reminder: once someone is granted asylum they become “refugees” with extensive welfare benefits available to them. They also can avail themselves of the ‘services’ of the refugee resettlement contractors.
From WBOC-16. Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers:’
BALTIMORE, Md.- An Ocean City Man was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release for conspiring to commit immigration fraud, federal prosecutors announced.
According to his plea agreement, 36-year-old Gasim Manafov, both of Ocean City, and Charlotte, N.C.. worked with others in assisting about 70 people in fraudulently applying for asylum benefits from 2007 to 2012. The plea agreement stated Manafov gave fake stories, complete with fake foreign documents, to describe how the person’s family was hurt or killed due to their political or ethnic background. Court documents show Manafov prepared the applicants for interviews and then attended the interviews.
The plea agreement also stated Manafov referred applicants to a co-conspirator knowing that they would engage in a fraudulent marriage for immigration purposes. Court documents also said Manafov suggested a woman apply for immigration benefits to avoid further trouble and coached her on how to lie when asked about it. The agreement said Manafov received $210,000 from those who fraudulently applied for asylum benefits.
Two other conspirators previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and were sentenced to one and three months in prison, respectively.
The ICE press release on the case is here.
Every time I see a story like this one I want to know where the criminal is from and how he came to be legally in America. It is a very rare story that ever mentions that (this one does not).
Checking around for the name Manafov, look at this very cool graphic I found! It is only the web popularity of the name, but check it out here. There is also a similar graphic for the name Gasim and it is a first name in several Muslim countries.
Asylum fraud is turning out to be one of the hottest immigration topics going these days. See some of our recent posts on the crooks and cheats by clicking here.