Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) said yesterday he has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office to investigate another immigration scam, this time involving Chinese investor(s) promising U.S. “green cards” to those who invest at least $100,000 in a hotel project on Saipan before the federal government takes over local immigration on Nov. 28, 2009.
Besides the $100,000 investment, investors from China are also asked to pay $20,000 in “government tax,” but it is not clear who would be the recipient of this additional tax.
Sablan earlier asked the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Guam and the Northern Marianas to investigate a group of Korean investors promising automatic investor status in the U.S. if they invest in the CNMI.
“Much as the prospectus that came into my hands earlier this year offering Korean investors the promise of U.S. visa status in return for putting money into a project in the CNMI, this most recent proposition promises investors in mainland China that the U.S. will issue green cards to all foreign personnel on the island, i.e., an amnesty. This is just not true,” Sablan said in a statement yesterday.
The scam also promises investors in China of U.S. citizenship to children born in the CNMI, and easy registration among Chinese children for entrance exams in “prestigious domestic universities.”
He said the “apparently growing problem” of investment/immigration scams “is an embarrassment to the people of the CNMI and hurts efforts to delay” the implementation of federalization of local immigration.
“How can I convince those who have worked so long to end the scams and abuses in the Northern Marianas to allow another year of local control, when the scams continue?” Sablan asked in a statement.
Review of allegations
Sablan is urging the CNMI government to show that action is being taken to thwart the scams.
Press secretary Charles Reyes said yesterday the Fitial administration appreciates Sablan's concerns “and we will be pleased to have the Attorney General's Office review these allegations and take appropriate actions if violations of CNMI laws are substantiated.”
Reyes, however, said the administration would need more specific information to take action.
“Unfortunately, there has been a great deal of misinformation about federalization, not just from investor groups, but also from worker groups in the past who believed green cards would be handed out to nonresident workers upon the full implementation of the law,” Reyes said.
U.S. Attorney Leonardo M. Rapadas of the District of Guam and the Northern Marianas could not be reached for comment as of press time.
The two-page statement from Sablan's office did not identify the investor(s) involved in the scam.
The KSPN News last night interviewed a Xanadu Club Inc. official about the issue.
In an interview with Saipan Tribune after the KSPN newscast at 6pm, Xanadu Club Inc. chief operating officer James Chao said their company is not involved in any scam, and said they have not promised “green cards” to prospective investors.
“The shareholders are a group of friends. How many investors are willing to put money into the CNMI now? Not many. But Xanadu wants to help the CNMI economy. We hire local employees, and purchased rooms at the Palms Resort. We want to provide good vacation destination to our shareholders,” he said, adding that Xanadu Club Inc. will be consulting its lawyer on the matter. But he said their legal counsel is currently off-island.
Last week, the United Micronesia Development Association, owners of the Palms Resort Saipan, said it has entered into an agreement with Xanadu Club, “a China-based high profile travel and time share enterprise, to provide vacation rooms for its members.”
UMDA said “31 of Palms Resort's rooms have been blocked permanently for exclusive use by the Xanadu Club.”
'Block them'
In August, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said in a news briefing that he was able stop Flame Sako Resort & Spa from publishing a marketing brochure that contains “misrepresentation” about the CNMI. The “draft” brochure had Fitial's photo in it.
“I was very glad when the governor announced that he would contact the responsible parties and stop publication of the Korean prospectus that promised U.S. visa status in return for a small investment. That publication had a welcoming letter from the governor and his picture, so it seemed like a direct endorsement by the Commonwealth,” Sablan said yesterday.
He said the Chinese prospectus he recently obtained does not have any message from the governor.
“The CNMI government must be aware of these scams and should put measures in place to block them because the first step in the scam is to obtain a CNMI investor visa, and that is something that the local government controls,” Sablan added.
Translated 'invitation'
Sablan presented a redacted copy of the translated invitation to investors used in the scam.
The invitation is in Mandarin and Sablan had it translated by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress.
The invitation asks for investors to plunk down $100,000 and another $20,000 in “government tax” into a hotel project on Saipan.
In return, investors will achieve “quick returns” and would be able to avoid “the immigration trap.” It also said there is no risk of being unable to recover capital.
The CNMI does have investor visas that require a $100,000 investment. But Sablan said it is not clear who would be the recipient of the $20,000 “government tax.”
Sablan said he has provided a copy of the Chinese prospectus to the U.S. Attorney's Office for investigation. He said the U.S. attorney has already written to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano regarding the ongoing investigation of the Korean investment proposal.
Home | Weather | Advertising | Classifieds | Subscription | Contact
Us | About Us | Archives
©2006 Saipan Tribune. All Rights Reserved
