William K. Bradford won a federal forfeiture case for the return of over a quarter of a million dollars to the client. The case involved nearly $300,000 dollars seized by the Government from a bank account belonging to our client, Minjuan Jiang.
The victory came after a five day federal forfeiture trial in federal court in Mobile, Alabama. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client for the return of nearly $300,000.00. Verdicts were also returned in favor of a number of other claimants who were persistent enough to retain lawyers and pursue the return of their money all the way through a trial.
The federal forfeiture case was the result of an underlying federal criminal case in which a Florida man was convicted for his role in an international fraud scheme designed to illegally obtain EB-1C visas for Chinese nationals.
Jimenez and three other Alabama and Florida residents were convicted in the visa fraud scheme. The scheme involved the criminal co-defendants submitting petitions for EB-1C visas for foreign multinational managers or executives to immigrate to the United States to manage the businesses matched up with American businesses.
Part of the scheme involved the Chinese nationals depositing approximately $300,000 into a U. S. bank at the request of the criminal defendants. The Chinese nationals were under the false impression that they were dealing with legitimate businessmen who were assisting them in applying for the visas, and that the deposit was a necessary part of the process. What the Chinese nationals did not realize was that the criminal co-defendants were actually submitting false, fraudulent, forged, and materially misleading documentation.
When the scheme was uncovered, the Americans were prosecuted and convicted. The Chinese nationals were victims of the scheme, and were not charged. But the Government seized their bank accounts claiming that the money was connected to the scheme and therefore subject to forfeiture.
All total, the Government seized over 4 million dollars from a number of Chinese nationals who were duped by the scheme.
Bradford filed a claim on behalf of one of the Chinese nationals seeking the return of the money. The case went to trial this October and went on for nearly five days. After hearing the case, the jury returned a verdict in favor of our client, finding that she was an “innocent owner” of the money, and that the Government had to return the nearly $300,000 dollars to her.
