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Manpower agency owner pleads guilty to visa fraud
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Posted on Sep 07 2021
The owner of a manpower agency that was arrested over charges of fraud and misuse of visa permits has pleaded guilty.
Alejandro Tumandao Nario, president and owner of A&A Enterprises, a manpower agency that provides employee labor services to businesses and individuals, pleaded guilty before U.S District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona Manglona last week to one count of fraud and misuse of visas and permits.
At the change of plea hearing last week, Nario was represented by court-appointed attorney Steven Pixley while Shey Owens served as the defendant’s Filipino interpreter. Meanwhile, assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores Jr. appeared via video teleconference.
Manglona accepted the plea and found Nario guilty of the offense.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Nario will remain released pending sentencing, which is set for Dec. 17 at 9am.
According to court documents, Nario was accused of petitioning CW-1 visas for non-existing jobs for foreign nationals, and requiring them to pay “routine taxes.”
On July 9, 2021, U.S. Homeland Security Investigation agents and CNMI Department of Public Safety police officers executed arrest warrants at A&A Enterprise. Nario and Mylene Basco Casupanan, an employee of A&A Enterprises, were placed under custody.
Casupanan was charged separately with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
According to the indictment, Casupanan conspired with Nario to defraud the U.S. in filing CW-1 petitions to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy released Casupanan on an unsecured bond in the amount of $1,000 with conditions, and scheduled his jury trial for Sept. 14, 2021.
