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Bankruptcy fraud and immigration fraud

Mr.X Filed bankruptcy and concealed assetts thus committing fraud.Trustee found it.
Later on it was revealed Mr.X got green card in 1986 under farm worker scheme by submitting fake papers.He came as a tourist and with the help of lawyer got green card.
What consequences Mr.X can have?

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Attorney answers (2)

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Reputation Level 15
If Mr. X is a citizen not a lot can happen as the statute of limitations on Fraud appears to be up. If he is fits any of the deportation or loss of naturalization provisions, he can be pursued, however short of his being a terrorist or a war crime criminal it is unlikely that he can be prosecuted there. His bad act can be used against him however in court on other issues (like the bankruptcy fraud)

As for the bankruptcy fraud, you do not give a date for that. Assuming that the statute of Limitations is not up, and the Trustee feels the mistakes were intentional, he can refer the case for prosecution by the US Attorney's office. If the office is a big one and busy and the "fraud" was not significant, then they may decide it would be a waste of scarce resources to pursue Mr. X. In that case, the state prosecutor could go after him but as this is a federal issue, they may decide not to waste their resources unless it will yield a positive result with either the public at large (whose tax dollars they spend) or gets them a favor with the Fed Prosecutors.

In other words, if he was a crook, and a big enough crook, someone will get him however if he is not a big enough crook, even though he's been caught red handed nothing may happen.

Fortunately for you however you can still pursue him civilly. In many jurisdictions Fraud carries a penalty of treble damages.

Good luck
1 person marked this answer as good

Reputation Level 20
How do you know that Mr.X got his "green card in 1986 under farm worker scheme by submitting fake papers"?

There is generally no statute of limitations preventing the government from revoking immigration benefits that an immigrant acquired due to the immigrant's misrepresentation of material facts. For common examples, look up what the government has been doing with naturalized citizens who the government was able to prove worked with the Nazi. Many more recent examples involve people who the government alleges are involved with terrorist groups.

If you have definitive proofs of the immigrant gaining immigration benefits (citizenship, permanent residency) by misreprenting material facts, you can report the immigrant to the ICE ( http://www.ice.gov/ ).

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