Californian man attended classes for 120 students
March 09 2010 by Liam Clifford
US visa class impresario faces 5-years in prison of convicted for attending college for up to 120 students.
A man from California is facing charges of attending college classes for up to 120 college students, the students are mainly from the Middle East and were only granted US visas on the proviso that they attended college lessons.
The man, a 46-year old from Laguna Niguel, was named as Eamonn Daniel Higgins, he was apprehended by US immigration and customs enforcement officers on Monday.
The scheme which is believed to have netted him hundreds of thousands of dollars saw Higgins attend college classes in economics, marketing and sociology for 7-years. During 2002-2007 Higgins became so busy with his enterprise that he even had to hire staff in the form of a blonde woman, who unbelievably posed as Middle-Eastern gentlemen for some classes, it is not known whether this was one of the giveaways in cottoning on to the scam.
Debra Parker, in charge of investigations for the Los Angeles US immigration agency said of the US visa enterprise.
"We have seen visa fraud schemes before but we have never seen anything quite like this."
16 other people that allegedly hired Higgins for the purpose of impersonating them on college courses were also apprehended on Monday.
If Higgins is convicted for the charge of US visa fraud he faces 5-years in a federal prison. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently on $5000 bail until the court date.
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