AFTER hearing the closing arguments of the defense and prosecution on Friday afternoon, jurors began their deliberations in the trial of Servillana Soriano who was charged with one count of defrauding the U.S. government for her alleged involvement in a CW-1 visa scheme.
Servillana Soriano
Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Flores said the case is not complicated. “There was clear deceit by the defendant. Deceit and cheat when she agreed that she would help Halim Khan to petition Bangladeshis. That’s it.”
There was deceit, moreover, when the defendant submitted her petition that included a service agreement between RES International and Kanoa Resort where the Bangladeshis would be employed, Flores said.
But it was not true — it was a misrepresentation, he added.
He told the jurors: “You heard from the Kanoa general manager that there was no authorization for Halim Khan to hire Bangladeshis. That’s it, simple. There was no employee-employer relationship between RES and the three Bangladeshis.”
In her own words, Flores said, referring to the defendant, “RES International was merely getting them status to remain in the CNMI and they would find their own work.”
For his part, defense attorney Mark Hanson reiterated his previous argument regarding his client’s “written statements.”
“Ms. Soriano’s written statement dated April 17, 2020 was not the product of Ms. Soriano herself nor the interpreter on the phone interpreting anything that Ms. Soriano said that day. [U.S. Homeland Security Investigations] special agent [Frederic] Jonas’s report of the circumstances indicates that he read a statement that he himself prepared at some earlier time and that the phone-line interpreter then supposedly interpreted what SA Jonas was saying in that subsequent interview from English into Tagalog for Ms. Soriano to understand what it was that SA Jonas was saying. There is no indication from any report provided to the defense that Ms. Soriano herself ever made any of the statements contained in that April 17 document,” Hanson said.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI provided specific instructions to the jurors before they began their deliberations.
Because today, July 5, is a holiday, the trial will resume Tuesday, July 6.
According to the prosecution, Soriano and three others agreed to defraud the U.S. 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 or USCIS, in the fair and objective evaluation of CW-1 non-immigrant visa applications.”
The prosecution said this was part of a conspiracy in which RES International LLC would, in exchange for money, submit a petition for CW-1 classification that would falsely and fraudulently represent that an employer-employee relationship would exist between RES and the beneficiaries under the employment terms set forth in the petition.
Soriano’s co-conspirators — Aminul Islam, Halim Khan and Faroque Hosen — were also charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Islam and Hosen have both pleaded guilty to the charge.
On Feb. 16, 2021, Judge Manglona sentenced Islam to one week of imprisonment, one year of supervised release and 25 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a $100 assessment fee.
Hosen will be sentenced on July 23, 2021 at 1:30 p.m.
As for Halim Khan, who is represented by attorney Bruce Berline, his jury trial will start on Aug. 29, 2021.
