ASSISTANT U.S. Attorney Garth Backe will call Arnold Reyes to testify as the federal government’s main witness in the trial of Servillana Soriano for her alleged involvement in a CW-1 petition scheme.
Soriano was charged with one count of defrauding the U.S.
Backe said the main witness will testify Thursday about Soriano’s request for Reyes to fill out a U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services CW-1 petition for three foreign workers.
“[Reyes] filled out some job contracts for her [Soriano], and she helped put it together so that it could be mailed,” Backe said.
Soriano will testify that it was he who prepared the I-29 petition for her.
“He will also testify that it was the first time from his knowledge that he would submit a petition for Bangladeshis; every other petition was for Filipino nationals,” Backe said.
“When Reyes asked Soriano why she was submitting this particular petition, she told him it was a favor to Halim Khan,” Backe added.
Soriano is represented by attorney Mark Hanson who told the court that Reyes is out of immigration status but will get immunity for testifying for the U.S. government.
Backe said Reyes is “out of status” and will get “statutory immunity that centers on his preparing the USCIS forms and communicating with the defendant regarding the petition.”
The US. government has also called the following as witnesses: Frederic Jonas, U.S. Homeland Security Investigation special agent; Monica Verma, immigration officer, USCIS; and Martin Jambor, general manager, Kanoa Resort.
According to the prosecution, Soriano with 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 the conspiracy that 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.
The other 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’s sentencing has been scheduled for 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.
