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Famous Russian-speaking immigration lawyers arrested in New York

'19.02.2021'

Lyudmila Balabay

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US Department of Justice released two indictments against nine people, including well-known Russian-speaking immigration lawyers in New York. The group is accused of organizing two fraudulent schemes to prepare and file forged asylum applications in the United States, including forging evidence and other documents provided to USCIS. In addition, they allegedly trained asylum seekers to lie under oath during immigration procedures.

Collage: ForumDaily (photo - from personal archives of Mosha and Dzhamgarova)

The first opinion concerns the immigration lawyers Ilona Dzhamgarova, Artur Arkadyan and Igor Reznik. They are accused of conspiring to commit asylum fraud in the United States. Ilona Dzhamgarova has already been arrested, and the other defendants have also been arrested.

The second indictment lists Yuri Mosha, Uladzimir Dansky, Yulia Grinberg, Alexey Kmit, Timur Shcherbina and Katerina Lisyuchenko. They are accused of conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to scam asylum. Five of the six accused were taken into custody, including Lisyuchenko, who was arrested in Italy - she will be extradited to the United States.

The allegations are based on investigations into the work of two immigration firms in New York - Dzhamgarova Firm and Russian America, which helped their clients (mainly immigrants from post-Soviet countries) to obtain visas, asylum, citizenship and other legal statuses in the USA.

Among other things, both firms advised some of their clients on what they can do to obtain asylum in the United States, although these clients were not legally entitled to asylum.

Firms also prepared and provided clients with falsely informed I-589 (Asylum Applications) Forms as well as their affidavits - statements about the asylum seeker's personal history, often including allegations of past harassment, and related supporting documentation that was fake ... Members and associates of each firm trained selected clients to lie under oath during interviews conducted by USCIS asylum officers and provided legal representation for their clients during various immigration procedures.

What is Jamgarova accused of

From November 2018 to December 2020 - Immigration Attorney

Ilona Dzhamgarova ran the Dzhamgarova Firm in Brooklyn (New York). Among other things, she advised her clients to apply for asylum, backed up by false claims that they belong to the LGBT community and therefore were allegedly persecuted in their home countries. In addition, according to the investigation, Dzhamgarova and her husband Artur Arkadyan, also a lawyer, prepared forged documents and testimonies for USCIS. Dzhamgarova and Reznik taught some clients to lie during asylum interviews conducted by USCIS Asylum Officers.

Dzhamgarova Firm hired writers and bloggers, including Igor Reznik, who deliberately wrote fake asylum affidavits from clients. They were then passed off as statements by immigrant asylum seekers, allegedly confirming their stories. Many stories described in these documents were completely invented by Reznik, the investigation claims.

All of these people are accused of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. This article provides for a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Accusations against Moshi

Yuri Mosha and Uladzimir Danskoy managed the offices of Russian America in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively. Each of them advised and helped clients to obtain asylum in the United States under a contrived pretext.

Among other things, Mosha advised certain clients to create and maintain online blogs in which they criticized their countries of residence. These blogs were used to later declare that based on the client's fictitious political views, it was not safe for him to return to his home country. The investigation argues that Mosha did this, realizing that the decision of the clients to blog was dictated not by their own idea or initiative, but by his instructions, and that the clients' motives for blogging were to create a basis for asylum in the United States, and not to publicly express sincere beliefs.

In some cases, Moshi's clients, the investigation claimed, lacked the up-to-date knowledge, journalistic ability and / or technical skills to run such blogs. In these cases, Mosha put them in touch with Timur Shcherbina, a journalist from Ukraine, who, in exchange for a fee, blogged such clients. Mosha personally prepared and submitted clients' asylum applications and related documents containing false information. Alexey Kmit allegedly was looking for clients who wanted to obtain asylum without having any grounds for this, and provided them with initial consultations.

Danskoy performed the same functions as Mosha, but in the Brooklyn office of Russian America. For example, Danskoy advised one Russian America client, a confidential FBI source, to apply for asylum in the United States on the grounds that the client was allegedly persecuted in Ukraine for being gay. Although in fact, Danskoy fully understood that he was a heterosexual man who was not subjected to such persecution.

Mosha and Danskaya referred certain clients to Katerina Lisyuchenko, an Italian lawyer who helped them draft fake asylum affidavits. The scheme also involved Yulia Greenberg, a New York-based immigration attorney, who taught clients to lie to immigration officials and provided legal representation for such clients during immigration procedures.

All of these people are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to commit asylum fraud.

In addition, all clients of these people now face a review of their immigration cases, regardless of the statute of limitations.

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