Women indicted in alleged green card scheme

The indictment was returned to the U.S. District Court of Maryland on March 26. Song had her initial appearance May 22 and was ordered detained. Matuszak had an initial appearance and arraignment May 7 and was released under the supervision of U.S. Pre-Trial Services. Chang is a fugitive. They face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy and 10 years in prison on each of the 12 counts of labor certification fraud.

The indictment also seeks a forfeiture of $1 million, believed to be the proceeds of the scheme, as well as property in Silver Spring and Bethesda.

The women were allegedly employed by Overseas Employment Information Service Inc., a company that provided immigration-related services primarily to the Korean and Chinese communities in the U.S., Korea and China. OEIS had offices in on Second Avenue in downtown Silver Spring and Los Angeles, according to the indictment.

In October 2001, OEIS registered to operate under the trade name EBI Inc. Matuszak was a vice president at the company between April 2001 and December 2003.

Between Jan. 1, 1997, and Dec. 31, 2003, the women allegedly submitted fraudulent immigration documents to help people getting green cards through an employment-based visa program. The program permits an employer to sponsor an alien for employment in the United States if the employer has been unable to find qualified U.S. workers to fill the position.

The indictment alleges the women filed false forms with the names and identifying information of former clients without their consent, many of whom had already become permanent residents or citizens. The women would then substitute another alien for the original beneficiary of the labor certification by resubmitting the paperwork with the new alien’s name and information, the indictment alleges. In some instances, they forged the signatures of former clients of forms they provided to the Department of Labor, and in other cases they used Wite-Out to change dates on forms that had already been signed, the indictment alleges.

The women allegedly charged the substitute beneficiaries fees ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 for these services.

Attorney Robert Bonsib, who represents Song, said he expects she will contest the charges filed against her. He is still in the process of analyzing government evidence and forming a response, he said.

‘‘Obviously, she’s very upset at the fact that they’ve charged her and brought her here, and she’s very concerned that she’s being held 3,000 miles away from her home,” he said. Song was brought into Maryland last week.