Saipan - SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant Servillana Soriano, age 61, from the Republic of the Philippines was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to 1 month in prison and 7 months home detention for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The Court also ordered 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment, 50 hours of community service, and a mandatory $100.00 special assessment fee. Soriano was previously found guilty by jury verdict on July 6, 2021.
From August 2018 to February 2019, Servillana Soriano agreed with co-conspirators to defraud the United States. The government’s evidence showed that Soriano, in exchange for money, filed fraudulent CW-1 petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for three Bangladeshi men. The petitions indicated that they would be full-time employees of Soriano’s manpower company, RES International, LLC, in Saipan. The co-conspirators, however, never worked for Soriano or her company, and the true purpose of filing the petitions was to get them lawful immigration status in order to remain in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“This case demonstrates our commitment to enforcing federal immigration laws in the CNMI," stated United States Attorney Anderson. “The CW-1 program is vital to maintaining the CNMI economy. I urge anyone with knowledge of this criminal activity to contact Homeland Security Investigations in Saipan."
“There are lawful ways for individuals to enter the United States and as Servillana discovered, HSI will thoroughly investigate those who try and circumvent our laws, including those who seek to defraud the U.S. with false claims," said John F. Tobon, HSI Honolulu. “We continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s offices to protect the integrity of our immigration laws."
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Garth Backe, Assistant United States Attorney in the District of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
