6 Arrested in Alleged Ring to Sell Phony Green Cards
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Federal authorities have arrested six suspects and are seeking three others in an alleged ring that lured hundreds of immigrants from Asia into paying about $10,000 each for phony green cards, officials said.
Victims were led to believe they would receive legal residency documents under a law recently signed by President Clinton, U.S. Atty. Nora M. Manella said in Los Angeles.
About 400 people were defrauded, officials said, some of whom even had false visas stamped in their passports. The ring operated out of several addresses in the Mid-Wilshire district, authorities said.
Two suspects--Jose Mendoza De La Merced, 42, of La Habra, and Don Thomas Banzon, 44, of Beverly Hills--were represented to clients as attorneys, officials said, though neither is licensed to practice law in California.
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