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'Many have misunderstood everything': Yuri Mosha - on the admission of guilt, the pluses of life after arrest and the threat of deportation

'08.11.2022'

Lyudmila Balabay

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In February 2021, US law enforcement арестовали 9 people in two immigration fraud cases. Among them was Yuri Mosha, founder of Russian America and Second Passport, which offered immigration advice. On October 31, 2022, it became known that Mosha pleaded guilty. This caused a real storm in the Russian-language news outlets in the United States. YouTube channel “Bureau” talked to the entrepreneur after that to hear his version of what was happening. ForumDaily New York retells this conversation.

Recognition is a logical step

To begin with, Mosha emphasized that many media outlets got it all wrong and attributed to him a confession of what he was not even accused of, or in general “came up with fables to take advantage of the high-profile story around his name.”

“On the advice of a lawyer, I confessed to the episode in which I am accused,” Mosha said.

Answering clarifying questions from journalist Denis Cheredov, Yuriy explained that this was about one episode, when he suggested that a person from Ukraine (he was an undercover FBI agent) start a text blog and “write oppositional things there”, and then use it as a basis for asylum in the USA.

“I shouldn't have done this. It was my mistake,” admits Mosha.

The businessman clarified that he is now in the status of an accused, the next hearing in his case is scheduled for March 1, 2023: “There should be a verdict or there will be some new statements from the prosecution. I don't know, maybe they will."

Cheredov recalled that the investigation had been going on for more than a year, and initially Mosha did not admit his guilt. Therefore, the journalist asked why the businessman had now changed his testimony.

“I already said that I did it on the advice of my lawyer ... It always happens, that is, no one admits his guilt right away. It's just a legal fact, it usually happens that way. I have not heard that someone, even there, I don’t know, some killer immediately pleaded guilty, ”Mosha replied.

The term is not as terrible as they write about it

Some media reported that in this case the entrepreneur faces up to 25 years in prison, but Mosha said that this was a misunderstanding of the situation.

“25 years is really the maximum term under this article. But it applies if, for example, you help someone with immigration to the United States, and you know that this person will later engage in terrorist activities. But the media take it out of context and write about 25 years for me,” he explained.

On the subject: Where to Find a Free Immigration Lawyer in New York

Mosha added that in his case he faces up to 5 years in prison. In addition, the confession of guilt is a deal with the investigation, and therefore he counts on a suspended sentence or on the shortest possible conclusion. At the same time, Yuriy stressed that he did not testify against other defendants in the case and “leaked” anyone.

Will the cases of those whom Mosha helped with immigration be reviewed?

The entrepreneur noted that media assumptions that the cases of all clients of Russian America and Second Passport would be reviewed do not correspond to reality.

“Imagine, we have been working for 11 years, 40 offices for the company. Imagine how many customers that is! And clients call the main office, which are now in Europe, call me periodically and say that they received a green card with the help of our company in 2012 or 2013, someone has already received citizenship. So now they are asking: “what, they will take away our citizenship now, because we processed everything with the help of your company?”. Well, no, of course, no one will be deprived of citizenship or a green card. That's bullshit! Nothing will be taken away from anyone, because these cases are real, it was all absolutely legal, ”said Mosha, adding that so far none of his former clients who contacted him spoke about the fact that they began to checks.

“If this happened, it would have already surfaced somewhere. Someone would have sued me, saying that we paid you money, and they took my green card from me, ”said the entrepreneur. He does not exclude that if checks of one of his clients reveal violations, then, of course, their green card or citizenship will be taken away from them. But if they applied for these documents with violations, they understood what they were doing and it cannot be his fault.

The entrepreneur said that the investigation is aware of all his clients. During the searches, computers were confiscated from him, where all the data was. In addition, during interrogations, he spoke honestly about everything that was asked.

New life after confession

Mosha admitted that he lost “many, hundreds of thousands of dollars” because of the scandal. But his company “Second Passport” is now working with a new leader, and a few years ago he completely gave “Russian America” to the partner with whom they started this business.

“My life has changed a lot. I left the management of the company I founded 11 years ago and worked for it for many years. I remained one of the shareholders, but I no longer have anything to do with management. Started developing a new digital marketing company. In fact, I started building it even before my arrest, but now I have free time. I used to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week… Now I have more free time, and I built a digital agency, which is now the absolute leader, I think… Of course, my life has changed after confessing my guilt. First, my reputation was destroyed. My reputation was imperfect, but for 10 years of work, no one could say that I threw them or deceived them. There was not a single lawsuit, nothing at all,” Mosha said.

He knows that there have been bad reviews about him before, but he considers them outbursts of angry people, and not justified accusations.

“This business (immigration consulting) is very hard. Took the money and did nothing - that's one thing. But he took the money, applied for a visa and you were refused - this is completely different. And they refuse mainly not because of the mistakes of the company, but for another reason. But there is a category of people who blame everyone around. They think that if they paid for a visa, then they should have brought this visa home by helicopter on a golden tray ... People who did not receive visas were angry, they wrote some comments, and because of this, the reputation was damaged, but it was not killed. There were such one-time surges, but we were still market leaders, absolutely all lawyers know this ... Now, for the sane, my reputation remains as it is ... but for people who read the yellow press, for them - yes, my reputation is completely destroyed, ” - says the businessman.

Arrest in the USA - what is it like

Mosha was released on bail after his arrest. Four people signed a paper willing to pay $300 if Yuri escapes or violates pre-trial release rules. That is, the total amount of the bail amounted to 1,2 million dollars.

“There was a big problem here. Guys, in the future, if you are arrested, remember the four numbers of acquaintances, friends of relatives who will be able to sign these documents. In fact, it was a test for lice. People whom I was sure that they would sign were frightened ... I think that after the arrest I lost about 50 people whom I considered friends, ”Mosha admitted.

After bail, Yuri was released from prison, but put under house arrest: “I couldn’t leave the house at all for the first, in my opinion, three months.” Mosha admitted that at that time he was in a severe depression because of what had happened.

Then the restrictions were lifted gradually. At first he was allowed to be outside for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening.

“Then I was allowed to walk around New York with a bracelet from 7:00 am to 9 or 10 pm. And in the end, they took off my bracelet. It was nice: it’s heavy, it needs to be charged, it’s a headache, it was impossible to go to the bathhouse with it,” Mosha said.

He is now free to move around the US. It is impossible to travel abroad, because his passport was taken away from him.

On the subject: Sing Sing prison in New York: what is known about it and what do Russian spies have to do with it

Threat of deportation

Yuri Mosha is not a US citizen, he is a green card holder. According to him, in theory, after the sentence is passed and the sentence is served, he can be deported. But he has already spoken to lawyers and they have formed a plan of action so that Mosha does not lose his green card. Now the immigration authorities did not put forward any claims against him, and while the investigation was ongoing, they even extended his green card.

handed over their

Yuri Mosha said that he knew the names of the people who complained about him to law enforcement officers. These are 4 Russian-speaking immigration lawyers who work in New York: “We (his company Russian America, and then Second Passport) were bigger than them, they were jealous.”

According to him, he saw the letters of these people in his file. While he has no right to give their names, he simply said that they were “two men and two women”.

Everything has its pros

Yuri Mosha says that there are even pluses in this whole story (but, of course, there are more negative points):

  • a new business from which he “gets high”;
  • now he spends more time with his family.

The full version of the interview, in which you will find out what kind of book Mosha is going to write; where he gets money for a lawyer, and why he agreed to an interview at all, you can see in the video below ⇓

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