A Chicago attorney, Gerardo Dean, has been charged with deceiving U.S. immigration authorities. He is accused of providing false employment information to help clients from the Philippines obtain visas, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Felicitas Cordero, who conspired with Dean as an employee of a company that managed skilled nursing facilities, was painted by the indictment as complicit in drafting mendacious H-1B and EB-2 visa petitions. They falsely proclaimed that managerial or supervisory roles awaited the visa applicants, whereas, in truth, the positions offered bore a resemblance more closely to basic nursing staff roles that paid considerably less than what was claimed.
The indictment alleges that Dean and Cordero accepted payments from foreign nationals and profited from payments made by the company contracting these immigrants, facilitating fraudulent visa applications. Dean, 58, of Park Ridge, Illinois, and Cordero, 76, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, pleaded not guilty before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.
Both face one count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and three counts of immigration fraud, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois. It is important to note that an indictment is not proof of guilt, and the accused are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. The case is brought forth by a conglomerate of legal oversight, including Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and agents representing Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Labor. Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri is at the helm representing the government.
