User:Yiran Yu/Immigrant investor programs

EB-5 Fraud
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program was created by Congress in 1990 to "stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors." The program is administered by Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Since its establishment, the EB-5 program has been subject to controversies due to "instances of fraud and threats to national security associated with the EB-5 program." One of the critics of the program, Senator Charles E. Grassley, said that “it’s no secret that the program has long been riddled with corruption and national security vulnerabilities.”

One of the notable EB-5 fraud cases is United States of America v. Ariel Quiros, William Kelly, Jong Weon Choi, and William Stenger. Quiros misused more than $81 million funds from immigrant investor to purchase another ski resort and luxury condominiums in New York City, affecting more than 700 investors from at least 74 countries. On June 2, 2021, Willam Kelly and his co-defendants pleaded guilty before Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford to two felony charges in connection with his involvement in the Jay Peak Biomedical Research Park EB-5 investment project, also called the AnC Vermont Project. The AnC Vermont project did not create “at least 2,200 jobs” as it has claimed, and the multi-year fraud scheme led to 97 months of jail sentences for Quiros.