There are many lawsuits in the EB-5 world: lawsuits against EB5 operators or regional centers and developers; lawsuits against the USCIS for denying the I-526 or I-829 petitions. Here are some examples:
Six Chinese investors asked a D.C. federal judge Friday to vacate a decision by the U.S. Homeland Security Department denying them access to the EB-5 visa program after they each invested $500,000 in a rural Alabama hospital, saying the agency’s decision was arbitrary and capricious.
Wei Gan, Wentao Huang, Jian Wang, Xue Wang, Xiaomeng Xu and Lihong Yang filed suit in April, 2016 alleging the government erred in determining that they failed to demonstrate that the hospital experienced “serious losses,” or more than 20 percent of its net worth, in either 2011 or 2012, according to the complaint. It also erroneously held that the investors did not actually put their 2013 investments at risk, according to the filing.
in another lawsuit, a Chinese investor sued her lawyer after she lost all her investment in a scheme. According to Li Che’s complaint, she and her husband Zhengang Zhang decided in 2012 to immigrate to the U.S. through the EB-5 program.
Zhang traveled to the U.S. in 2012 with a group of foreign investors to look into opportunities that could allow him and his wife to get a visa so their daughter could attend school in the country, Che said.
On that trip, he met and stayed with Xiaolan Zhang, whom he believed to be a successful businesswoman living in a ritzy Washington, D.C., suburb, and Peide Yan, whom Xiaolan Zhang purported to be her husband and the father of her three daughters. According to Che, however, Xiaolan Zhang is neither married to Yan nor is she a successful business owner, but rather a convicted credit card thief who financed her lavish lifestyle through a Ponzi scheme.
The couple hatched a plan with Xiaolan Zhang to open a luxury gifts store in Maryland, and Xiaolan Zhang introduced them to Chang, whom Che hired to guide her and her husband’s EB-5 application and their participation in the business. Che and her husband, who do not speak English, hired Chang in part because he could speak their native Mandarin, according to the complaint.
In April 2013, the couple wired $1.02 million into an account controlled by Xiaolan Zhang. Almost immediately, Xiaolan Zhang liquidated that count and transferred the funds into an account she controlled, using it to pay back investors who had gotten wise to her Ponzi scheme, Che said. Meanwhile, Chang communicated frequently with Zhang but routinely failed to do so with Che and her husband, allowing the theft to go on unabated, Che said.
Che claims she ultimately discovered the scheme in 2015 after Chang put her in touch with an investigator, but not before Zhang had stolen her entire initial investment and additional funds she had requested.
On that trip, he met and stayed with Xiaolan Zhang, whom he believed to be a successful businesswoman living in a ritzy Washington, D.C., suburb, and Peide Yan, whom Xiaolan Zhang purported to be her husband and the father of her three daughters. According to Che, however, Xiaolan Zhang is neither married to Yan nor is she a successful business owner, but rather a convicted credit card thief who financed her lavish lifestyle through a Ponzi scheme.
The couple hatched a plan with Xiaolan Zhang to open a luxury gifts store in Maryland, and Xiaolan Zhang introduced them to Chang, whom Che hired to guide her and her husband’s EB-5 application and their participation in the business. Che and her husband, who do not speak English, hired Chang in part because he could speak their native Mandarin, according to the complaint.
In April 2013, the couple wired $1.02 million into an account controlled by Xiaolan Zhang. Almost immediately, Xiaolan Zhang liquidated that count and transferred the funds into an account she controlled, using it to pay back investors who had gotten wise to her Ponzi scheme, Che said. Meanwhile, Chang communicated frequently with Zhang but routinely failed to do so with Che and her husband, allowing the theft to go on unabated, Che said.
Che claims she ultimately discovered the scheme in 2015 after Chang put her in touch with an investigator, but not before Zhang had stolen her entire initial investment and additional funds she had requested.
Chang has denied all the claims and asked the court to dismiss the case.
These cases highlight that importance of having an honest and competent immigration lawyer to guide you through the complicated immigration process, especially the EB-5 process.
We welcome your thoughts and inquiries should you desire to immigrant to the United States.