After a 5 year-long evasion of the authorities, Earl Seth David was apprehended in Toronto last Tuesday for his part in one of the largest immigration scams in U.S. history. David, also knows as “Rabbi Avraham David,” is awaiting extradition from Canada to face charges for his actions as the ringleader of multi-million dollar immigration fraud scheme.
David’s Manhattan-based firm, the David Firm, is alleged to have procured work visas for at least 25,000 immigrant clients from 1996 to 2009 by falsely claiming that U.S.-based companies were sponsoring the foreign nationals for employment. David continued the scheme even after his license to practice law in New York was suspended in 2004.
In the United States, American-based companies and employers are permitted to file applications with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in an effort to “sponsor” a foreign individual on the premise that his/her skills are special and necessary for the firm. The firm is alleged to have falsified the documents necessary for such a sponsorship, creating fake pay stubs, tax returns and experience letters to deceive the Department of Labor into issuing labor-based visas. Meanwhile, David was alleged to have collected up to $30,000 for each alien applicant, yielding himself and his accomplices, millions in profit; accomplices that include, employees of the firm, accountants and one Labor Department employee. The group faces charges of immigration fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, charges in which David shares, although money laundering is added to his list as well. With thousands having been granted unwarranted stay and authorization to work in the country and multi-million dollar profits scammed, this group will soon face the possibility of 20 years each in prison.