Visa Fraud Case

(Yorba Linda, California) Yesterday morning, three members of a local family were arrested for visa fraud at their immigration consulting business, MPEagle Consultants.

Ajit Kumar Bhargava, his wife, Nisha Bhargava, and their daughter, Runjhun Bhargava, are accused of filing fraudulent marriage and work visa petitions on behalf of foreigners, primarily Indian nationals, who paid thousands of dollars in fees.

Federal officials allege that the three made the couples pose together for photos and open joint bank accounts to make the fake marriages appear real. The three would then file a fraudulent immigrant visa petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, officials said.

Ajit Bhargava quoted different fees to his clients depending on the type of visa they wanted, such as $15,000 for a work visa or up to $60,000 for a visa based upon marriage to a U.S. citizen, immigration officials reported.

The authorities became suspicious and launched an investigation in 2009 after noticing that a number of MPEagle visa applications referenced the same marriage certificates, divorce certificates, witnesses, U.S. citizen spouses, etc.