Federal criminal complaints were filed in Orange County against 10 Chinese nationals who fled the U.S. in violation of orders to remain in the country while investigations into so-called maternity houses were underway, authorities said.
Maternity houses refer to businesses to which women from other countries pay large sums to give birth in the U.S., some after falsely obtaining visas by claiming they were coming to the country for short stays. The children become citizens of the U.S., their country of birth.
In the case of the defendants who were charged Thursday, the homes were run as “businesses that allegedly helped mainly Chinese women come to the U.S. to give birth,” said Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California.
In the criminal complaints, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, the defendants are accused of obstruction of justice and contempt of court for leaving the country despite orders to remain as material witnesses to provide information to investigators, Mrozek said.
Ten of the defendants are also charged with making false statements on visa applications, Mrozek said.
An 11th defendant was not ordered to remain in the U.S. and is charged only with visa fraud, Mrozek said.
“All but one of the defendants were customers of Chinese maternity house operations in Southern California who paid up to $50,000 to obtain temporary visitor’s visas for authorization to travel to the United States by fraudulently claiming their stay was only for several days,” Mrozek said, citing court documents.
Ten of the defendants were among 29 material witnesses encountered by federal law enforcement officers during the execution in March of 37 search warrants in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, Mrozek said.
Several Chinese maternity operations in Southern California are under federal investigation for suspected immigration and tax fraud and for failing to report banks accounts in China and Hong Kong.
All 11 defendants are now the subjects of federal arrest warrants, Mrozek said.
They are:
— Dongjiang He, 46, and his wife, Zhichan Yu, 40, who both last resided in Rancho Cucamonga and allegedly fled on April 16;
— Jun Xiao and LongJing Yi, both 30, who last lived in Irvine and fled on April 4 after paying only $4,600 of the $32,291 in hospital charges incurred from Yi’s giving birth at an area hospital;
— Jia Luo, 30, who last lived in Rancho Cucamonga and allegedly lied on her visa application and to customs officers in Hawaii when asked if she was planing to have a baby in the U.S. and fled on April 12;
— Renlong Chen, 34, and his wife Wei Wang, 33, who last resided in Rancho Cucamonga and allegedly fled on April 12;
— Jie He, 29, who last resided in Rancho Cucamonga and allegedly fled on April 13;
— Eryun Zhang, 25, her husband Liang Ni, 25, and her mother Ji Xu, 50, who all last resided in Rancho Cucamonga and allegedly fled on April 14.
Yi is charged only with visa fraud because she had not appeared before a judge to be designated a material witness, as requested by the government, and Xu is charged with violating the court’s order to remain in the U.S., but not with visa fraud, Mrozek said.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of 25 years in federal prison for the false visa application statements and five years for obstruction of justice. There is no maximum penalty for contempt of court.
—City News Service