ROSALEE Bangot Abejo, who was accused of involvement in a fraudulent CW-1 visa scheme, was taken into custody Friday.
The warrant of arrest was signed by District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy.
On Friday, Abejo, represented by court-appointed attorney Janet King, appeared before Judge Kennedy.
Abejo was charged with one count (not two as earlier reported) of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Through her attorney, she pled not guilty.
Judge Kennedy scheduled a jury trial for Dec. 21, 2021 at 10 a.m.
At the hearing on Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores summarized the charges against the defendant.
As required by Rule 5(f) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the U.S. government was ordered by the judge to produce all exculpatory evidence to the defendant “pursuant to Brady v. Maryland and its progeny.”
Not doing so in a timely manner may result in sanctions, including exclusion of evidence, adverse jury instructions, dismissal of charges and contempt proceedings, the judge said.
The prosecutor did not move for detention.
Judge Kennedy, for her part, ordered the release of Abejo after receiving and reviewing the U.S. Probation Officer’s pretrial services report, which recommended the defendant’s release with terms and conditions.
The judge said the defendant will be released on a $1,000 unsecured appearance bond.
Attorney King told the court that the defendant’s passport had already been surrendered to a probation officer.
Abejo was released and ordered to abide by all of the terms and conditions imposed by the court.
According to the indictment, “Between on or about July 1, 2019, and continuing through on or about December 1, 2020, Abejo, together with Mylene Basco Casupanan (charged elsewhere), conspired and agreed with each other to defraud the United States by deceitful and dishonest means, for the purpose of impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of a government agency, namely, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in the fair and objective evaluation of applications for CW-1 and CW-2 non-immigrant visas.”
The indictment added, “It was part of the conspiracy that Abejo relied upon Casupanan to fraudulently edit documents. Abejo used these documents to submit with petitions for CW-1 and CW-2 visas as favors to friends and acquaintances, or other persons. Abejo and Casupanan used e-mail to exchange the modified documents, such as employment certifications and employment date records.”
In furtherance of the conspiracy, the indictment stated, “and to effect the objects therefore, a Form I-129CW, 11 Petition for a CNMI-Only Nonimmigrant Transitional Worker, was mailed from the CNMI to USCIS’s office in Laguna Niguel, California on or about July 1, 2019, and continuing through on or about December 1, 2020.”
Casupanan is charged in a separate case involving Alejandro Nario who, in turn, is accused of victimizing more than 100 individuals in a fraudulent CW-1 visa scheme.
Casupanan has pled not guilty to the charge of one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Her jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2022.
As for Nario, he has pled guilty to the charge of one count of fraud and misuse of visas and permits. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2021.
